- Bitcoin mining firm Marathon has teamed up with Bitcoin development company Brink to raise money for Bitcoin Core developers
- Marathon will match donations up to $500,000, which Brink will distribute as required
- The number of Bitcoin developers has shrunk in recent months due to various pressures
Bitcoin mining company Marathon and Bitcoin protocol research company Brink have announced a $1 million fund to aid Bitcoin Core development. The fund will allow Bitcoin Core developers to “continue their essential work of maintaining and strengthening the Bitcoin network” and aims to boost the number of active Bitcoin developers, which has been decimated in recent months. It also comes a time of fundamental debate about the purpose of Bitcoin given the staggering rise of Bitcoin Ordinals, which has led to some proposing another Bitcoin hard fork to separate it from the main chain.
Many Bitcoin Core Developers Are Volunteers
Bitcoin Core developers are crucial to the security of the network thanks to their work maintaining the Bitcoin protocol, which serves as the foundational technology that allows Bitcoin to operate as a decentralized and peer-to-peer payment network. This software, which establishes the regulations and mechanisms that govern the entire Bitcoin network, is maintained by Bitcoin Core developers, many of whom conduct their work on a voluntary basis or through sponsorship.
The number of Bitcoin core developers has depleted in recent months given the pressures of the job and the threats of legal action from the likes of Craig Wright, which has led to the formation of the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund, and this Bitcoin Core developer fund hopes to build on this with a further financial incentive to attract new developers.
Marathon Will Match Donations
Marathon and Brink hope to raise up to $1 million in donations for Bitcoin Core developers, with Marathon making a commitment to match all donations up to a total of $500,000 in 2023. Specifically, during the Bitcoin 2023 conference, which is taking place right now in Miami, Marathon will match all donations to Brink on a two-for-one basis, with a maximum donation of $500,000 from Marathon. These donations will be distributed by Brink in the most suitable way to aid Bitcoin Core development.
After the conference concludes, Marathon will continue to match all donations on a one-for-one basis, up to $500,000 when combined with the matching donations from the Bitcoin 2023 conference period, for the rest of 2023.
Marathon CEO and Chairman Fred Thiel praised the work of Bitcoin Core developers in a press release revealing the pledge, saying that without their work “the decentralized payment network that everyone around the world is free to use would not function the same.” Similarly, Mike Schmidt, co-founder and executive director of Brink, said that Bitcoin Core developers are “the unsung heroes of the Bitcoin ecosystem” and that the new fund is a chance “for the Bitcoin community to acknowledge and lend their financial support to these talented developers, who make it all possible.”
