Polkadot, Kusama and Gitcoin: Building the Future

Polkadot and Kusama are onboarding to the Gitcoin platform, strengthening the foundations of the Web 3.0 ecosystem and expanding the opportunities for developers to earn from open source projects.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for us with the launch of the genesis block of the Polkadot blockchain network. This is a landmark step towards our mission to contribute to Web 3.0, a fair, secure, and resilient internet that inherently protects user interests.

As part of this mission, we are excited to join up with Gitcoin in our shared goal of growing the open-source ecosystem, creating more opportunities for the wider community to cocreate a better system for all.

Gitcoin is a thriving platform built on the Ethereum blockchain that provides paid opportunities for developers to find their “tribe” and contribute to interesting and meaningful open source projects.

The platform has been running since 2017, supporting the community using a combination of bounties (usually small projects), hackathons, and grants.

These are announced, allocated, and paid through the platform using smart contracts, avoiding the need for an intermediary.

In addition to supporting all ERC20 tokens, we are thrilled that Gitcoin is now integrating Polkadot and Kusama tokens (DOT and KSM) into its tech stack, making us one of the first full integrations outside of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Our first joint venture with Gitcoin is the 'Build Polkadot' Bounty Challenge, running to June 11th, with a total of 6K DAI to be won for supporting the Polkadot ecosystem.

Over the coming year, Web3 Foundation is funding a series of Polkadot-related hackathons on Gitcoin. Polkadot is a multi-chain network, with sharded chains (parachains), interoperability (transfer of data, assets, or tokens across blockchains) and bridges to external blockchains, so the potential projects promise to be interesting and challenging. Keep an eye on the Web 3 Foundation page https://gitcoin.co/web3foundation/active for notifications and Gitcoin’s Hackathon page to register when ready.

The crypto space is ideally positioned to be on the cutting edge of the future of work, creating ways for developers to work independently on projects that excite them. Our collaboration with Gitcoin builds on our existing general and open grants programs and our commitment to fund the development and advancement of decentralized open-source projects.

Together we enter in the spirit of the win-win cooperation mentality of the blockchain community in general, with everyone working towards the common goal of building open source projects to create a better, safer internet for all.

Things change rapidly in the Polkadot universe. We have provided lots of ways for members of the wider community to keep up to date with what’s going on. Join us on your preferred medium as we head into exciting times.

Join the discussion on Telegram and Riot, or subscribe to Polkadot's newsletter. Learn more about Polkadot in the Polkadot Lightpaper and the Polkadot Wiki. Want to join the core growth team behind Polkadot? Join the Polkadot Ambassadors.

There is a lot going on every day in the Kusama community, from network upgrades, to new Treasury proposals, to wild community competitions. The Kusama community has been thriving since 2019 and there are plenty of ways to get plugged in.
Join the discussion on Telegram and Riot, or subscribe to Kusama's newsletter. Learn more about Kusama on our website and in the Kusama Wiki. Want to join the core growth team behind Kusama? Join the Ambassador Program.