Bitcoin Core opens its doors to outside funding and is seeking sponsorship projects

Bitcoin Core has announced a new sponsorship program aimed at finding large communities of volunteers to develop the open-source bitcoin software.

A few weeks ago, MIT received $900,000 in funding to advance its work on Bitcoin. However, the funding was earmarked for three specific developers: Gavin Andresen, Cory Fields, and Wladimir van der Laan.

Gavin Andresen

Van der Laan, the project’s lead maintainer, told CoinDesk that the project is intended to financially support open-source bitcoin projects.

“We have had a number of companies express interest in funding Bitcoin Core development, which is a huge help. With funding, we can do more direct development work in addition to our usual open source approach.”

VanderLaan also said:

“Some projects, such as sync algorithms and privacy enhancements, or boring tasks, such as files and Windows, take a long time to research or develop. There are also some areas, such as wallets, where there is currently a lack of enthusiasm for development work.”

Wladimir van der Laan

According to Bitcoin Core’s sponsored project announcement, the funds will not only be used to fund a few specific projects, but the project needs funds to help support quality assurance testing, as well as to fund communications, PR, documentation, and other resources.

Van der Laan told CoinDesk he hopes the grant will lead to improvements in bitcoin transaction privacy and research on the Lightning Network.

Original: http://www.coindesk.com
By Stan Higgins
Compiled by: Kyle
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/bitcoin-core-outside-funding)