IOVLabs, one of the leading blockchain technology companies, announced the launch of a $2.5 million grant program to enhance the development and adoption of Rootstock further.
The IOVLabs team announced this during the inaugural Bitcoin Builders Conference in Miami, bringing together developers focusing on Bitcoin Layer 1 and Layer 2.
As per the announcement, the funding will go into helping grow Rootstock, the first Bitcoin side chain that has grown to become a hub of DeFi activity in the Bitcoin network.
Notably, to get eligible candidates for the program, IOVLabs has partnered with HackerEarth, a global community of over 4 million developers, to launch a hackathon. The hackathon is set to run from May to July 2023. The event Will be done in three stages: ideation development and final pitching to a panel of judges from the Bitcoin and Rootstock ecosystems.
The hackathon and the grant program aim to encourage developers to explore a range of concepts and projects that align with the theme “Everyday DeFi.” Developers could explore greater interoperability for different blockchain builds on or with Bitcoin, unlocking new functionality and liquidity for DeFi, user-centric utility to achieve effective user engagement, and developer hackathon bounties for Rootstock infrastructure and tooling.
The hackathon panel of judges includes Rootstock co-founders Sergio Lerner and Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar and other Rootstock ecosystem leaders, including representatives from Tropykus and Sovryn. In addition to the Grant, all participants will also be competing for prizes amounting to over $ 25,000.
Commenting on the grant and Hackerthon, IOVLabs VP of Growth Pei Chen stated:
“IOVLabs’ support of the strategic grants program demonstrates our strong commitment to provide the tools needed to build a truly decentralized financial system on Bitcoin. This is an opportunity for the next generation of developers to harness the Rootstock sidechain to extend the capabilities of Bitcoin and help create a freer and fairer financial system for all.”
Developers participating in the hackathon can leverage Rootstock’s extensive resources on the dev portal and the Rootstock Infrastructure Framework’s (RIF) prebuilt open-source protocols.
Reportedly the grant and the hackathon will allow IOVLabs to extend the possibilities of Bitcoin from just being a store of value. The organization hopes this initiative will help future-proof Bitcoin and enhance its long-term value proposition. Also, the initiative aims at promoting side chains for complex transactions, which will help address the ongoing congestion issues on the leading network.
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