Introducing the Pilot Cohort of De-Grants Program
by Hero Gamer, Stacks Community Governance Resident
January 31, 2024
The Grants program supplies structured funding for critical open-source technology development and select educational efforts. Today, we’re pleased to introduce the six new projects selected for the pilot cohort of the De-Grants Program. These projects are poised to make a significant impact on the Stacks ecosystem, addressing crucial needs and bringing fresh creativity to the Stacks landscape.

This cohort includes projects ranging from the development of innovative tools for community engagement, digital asset management, creative collaborations, and educational outreach.
Meet the teams:
Golang SDK
The Golang SDK project aims to address the absence of a dedicated Golang software development kit (SDK) for the Stacks blockchain.
Golang SDK aims to enhance the development experience and attract a broader community of Golang developers to contribute to the Stacks ecosystem, leveraging Golang's popularity in the blockchain space.

  • Led by anononchain. Originally founded by stacksonchain (who has since left the project to pursue other ideas), anononchain brings a deep understanding of Stacks and Clarity.
  • Next milestone: February 28, 2024. Beta version of the SDK with full functionality for interacting with the Stacks blockchain, including smart contracts and events. Comprehensive documentation covering all aspects of the SDK.
  • Best way to follow: Follow anononchain on X for progress updates.
Community Engagement Tooling
The Community Engagement Tooling project focuses on bridging the engagement gap in NFT projects, providing creators with the means to maintain community interest throughout the project's lifecycle.
These proposed tools allow creators to configure NFT sets that yield tokens, enabling further interactions within the project, and offers web APIs for seamless integration into various projects, ultimately sustaining engagement beyond the initial stages.
  • Led by PQ who has worked in Stacks for two years now and with databases for their whole career. PQ has run multiple NFT projects, worked with many others, and has a deep understanding of databases and web integrations. PQ brings cross-over of expertise in both areas, offering relevant community-based direction. This project aims to deliver a secure, feature-rich solution that can be utilized by any other project owner or developer.
  • Next Milestone: February 15, 2024. Develop a generic token yield solution with oauth2 authenticated APIs.
  • Best way to follow: Follow PQ on X for progress updates.

Rising Tide Protocol
The Rising Tide Protocol is a new protocol geared towards enabling creators new and exciting opportunities to promote, share and profit from their work.
The goal of the protocol is to allow the user to create a web3 revenue stream as simple as setting up a table at your local public market. The first application being built on the protocol, Pages, will bring these new opportunities specifically targeting writers, poets, graphic artists, as well as application and Clarity smart contract developers.

  • Led by tripnmonkey. tripnmonkey brings 15 years of experience in software development working with both product and engineering teams. They are a well trusted member of the Stacks community.
  • Next Milestone: February 15, 2024. Application available on Nakamoto testnet for initial private testing.
  • Best way to follow: Follow tripnmonkey on X for progress updates.
3NS - Web3 Naming Service Infratructure
3NS revolutionizes digital asset management on the Stacks blockchain by enabling entities to register names linked to digital assets.
This infrastructure facilitates royalty distribution, governance, and fractionalization of digital assets. The project's objective includes a pre-order campaign to foster user adoption and showcase its potential to enhance the Stacks ecosystem.

  • Led by: Our team, with leadership from Ashley Turing and Kayode Adeosun, who have proven expertise in building and deploying Web3 products. Their background and track record in successful project execution make them uniquely suited for this project.
  • Next milestone: March 1, 2024. Development of the pre-order e-commerce website for name registration and community validation.
  • Best way to follow: Follow Ashley on X for progress updates.
Stacks MixTapes
Stacks MixTapes aims to breathe new life into the Stacks NFT market by introducing a unique art and music NFT project.
This creative platform enables musicians and visual artists to collaborate, earn from their art, and gain a wider audience by offering a mixtape featuring 10 acoustic tracks paired with 10 original artworks.
  • Led by GoodKitty. GoodKitty has spent 24 years managing her own business in the music industry, spanning major and indie label releases, brand engineering, marketing management and touring, and 2 years inside the Stacks ecosystem as founder of the Bitcoin Art Collective and OMI gallery, alongside Longstreet, an experienced musician, educator, and frequent collaborator in the Stacks Ecosystem, uniquely qualifies us to lead this pioneering project.
  • Next milestone: April 30, 2024. Curate and brief 10 musicians and 10 artists; Produce and master 10 singles and 10 artworks; Create marketing strategy and collateral.
  • Best ways to follow: Follow Goodkitty on X for weekly space at 1pm on Tuesdays, visit Goodkitty’s website, and subscribe to Goodkitty’s newsletter.

MusicForScience
Music for Science brings the next 1,000 Spanish-speaking users to Stacks by focusing on onboarding a Spanish-speaking audience through educational content.
The educational content is combined with a participative NFT collection called “Manuelita,” associated with the fourth season of the Music for Science show. The holders of these NFTs will be considered associate producers, and can actively participate in the show’s production process, which revolves around Mental Health and the Consensus of Reality.

  • Led by Clara Cantore and the production team. The team brings extensive experience and success in initiating and managing the Music for Science project over the past three years. The project has already made a significant impact in Latin America, particularly in Argentina and Uruguay, by serving as a unique bridge between art and science. The incorporation of Anibal Boscoboinik and Georgina Mauriño to the team, with many years of experience in the Stacks ecosystem, position them uniquely to carry out the proposed project.
  • Next milestone: February 2. Development of Educational Content (video: Blockchains and Stacks).
  • Best ways to follow: Follow Manuelita for progress updates; information will be also shared by Music For Science and Anibal.
Thank you to ZeroAuthority & Trajan
At the Stacks Foundation, we are dedicated to fostering transparency in every aspect of our work. We strive to make our processes and decisions open and accessible to everyone.

In line with this commitment, the initial batch of DeGrants funding has been distributed to all grantees through ZeroAuthority, the pioneering P2P Bitcoin layers gig marketplace. This platform and their other partnership with Trajan, allows participants to earn a decentralized reputation and actively engage in the Bitcoin economy. Notably, ZeroAuthority is also a project that has previously benefited from the support of the Stacks Foundation.
Learn more
Discover the profiles and grant progress of all grantees on ZeroAuthority. Check out their skills, reputation profiles, and consider offering them additional opportunities for collaboration!


Learn more about the Stacks Foundation DeGrants Program here.