Gitcoin is a platform where oper source software developers get paid to work on public goods projects in Python, Rust, Ruby, JavaScript, Solidity, HTML, and more. Founded in 2017 by Kevin Owocki, this web3-native analog of the GoFundMe has since distributed over $60m in total, including $40m through grants alone.
Now Gitcoin is a community of 312,000 developers, and all those people share one ambitious goal: to spearhead what they call a “regenerative crypto economics.” This term, pioneered by Owocki in his book “GreenPilled: Regenerative CryptoEconomics,” stands for ecosystems that provide physical well-being and security for communities, as opposed to an extractive model that degrades resources and generates digital wealth for its creators.
The 14th round, running from June 8 to June 23, features 18 match pool categories curated by the Gitcoin Dao and the community. Most are directed at advancing already existing ecosystems like Celo, Ethereum, and Lootverse, but there are also categories for crypto advocacy, climate solutions, diversity in web3, or Oakland youth empowerment.
The current funding round was endorsed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who encouraged established web3 protocols to become Gitcoin’s matching partners. Buterin tweeted that “there are far more honorable ways to burn $50m to impress people than buying a superyacht,” referring to Zhu Su, the CEO of the insolvent Three Arrows Capital, who reportedly purchased a luxury megayacht to impress investors.
This time, Gitcoin DAO approved over 3,000 projects for participation in the funding round. To qualify for GR14 and issue their “grants,” creators have to submit a clear project title with a description and specify which ERC-20 tokens they accept for donations. The proposed grants are truly astounding, ranging from the community kitchens in Oakland to AI-generated solarpunk art, so everyone can find the one they would like to support. But keep in mind that you’ll need a GitHub account to participate in funding – a requirement that some community members criticized as such that excludes too many people from contributing.
Gitcoin crypto grants are distributed through a proprietary, democratic system known as quadratic funding. Under such a structure, donations from individuals are matched with corresponding amounts of funding from bigger donors. However, the relation isn’t 1:1, as projects with more community support receive more money. For instance, the project that counted 100 individual donations of $1 each will get more funding than a project with a single $100 donation.
“Quadratic Funding optimizes for the preferences of the poor and the many instead of the rich and the few,” Kevin Owocki once described, and it’s hard to disagree with him.
To celebrate the end of GR14, Owocki announced that he will be giving away free copies of his GreenPill book in ten languages.
The previous 13th round ended on March 23, raising over $4.6m, with over $1m donated to the Support for Ukraine pool alone. GR13 saw 17k unique contributors who made 300,000 contributions to just over 1,000 grants, a Gitcoin’s all-time high.
GR14 ends at 18:00 MDT, or 2:00 CET.
