Published by Stacks Foundation Team on November 23, 2022

Hey everyone, a quick update from the Stacks Grants team here! As you may know, we shared the results of an ecosystem survey that helped us zero in on the highest-priority needs across the Stacks ecosystem. Those survey results painted a clear picture of where energy and investments should go: towards the core Stacks blockchain, particularly with regard to speed and scalability You can also review current Grants priorities here.

Ultimately, we are not awarding grants to the latest cohort of applicants because we need to allocate funds and resources to projects that address the ecosystem’s most pressing needs. The proposals from this batch didn’t align with or address the flagged priorities from the community, so we are not moving forward with funding for them at this time.

We want to be clear that the decision not to award grants this quarter was not budget-related, the same capital will still be deployed, but toward higher-priority work as aligned grants come forward. The collective decision to assess grant applications based on their alignment with the needs voiced by the community is something we have conviction around, and we remain committed to aligning all of our work with these needs and priorities. The Grants Review Committee (GRC) is also aligned with this thinking, affirming the need to focus on high-priority projects that will be high-impact for the ecosystem in the short-term.

A grant such as #782 may be an example of an application that could be a better fit to fund in the short-term, we’ll be assessing it alongside the Grant Review Committee (GRC) to know for sure. Elsewhere, we’re staying aligned with critical needs via hiring; we currently have two open blockchain positions, a Blockchain Developer and a Blockchain Security Lead. We’re also spending our time and efforts supporting the Stacks 2.1 upgrade, rollout with integration partners, voting, and related communications.

If you’re interested in taking on critical work that is aligned with the priorities of the network, please get in touch by emailing grants@stacks.org with the subject line “CRITICAL BOUNTY.” We’re always happy to talk through an idea via a call or email before you go through the process of submitting a grant. Use the grant priority list as a guide, but we’re a resource as well.

We would like to publicly thank all of the members of the Grants Review Committee (GRC) for their efforts in reviewing the applications. The success of the Grants Program hinges on their engagement and participation in the review process. We look forward to working with the GRC on the evaluation of applicants for Critical Bounties and in the identification of additional high-impact Critical Bounties.