What is Retroactive Grant Funding?

We are currently testing retroactive grant funding for the Starknet and Stellar ecosystems. This means:

• The budget is distributed to projects at the beginning of each month, based on the previous month's activity.
  • So for instance, for the month of January, the budget is sent early February. For the activity of February, it’ll be sent early March and so forth.
• Contributor rewards follow the same timeline – they are sent at the beginning of each month for contributions made in the prior month.

How Is This Done?

We built an AI-powered system that evaluates each PR based on multiple criteria to allocate rewards through a dynamic scoring model. This system was tested with maintainers to ensure fairness and accuracy.

As we continue iterating, we’re refining the model with every round—your feedback from the first cycle has been very valuable in making these improvements.

Why Are We Doing This?

The old way of distributing funding reached its limits.

Until now, ecosystem budgets were manually sent to projects, leading to discrepancies—some projects received more than others, and some rewarded contributors unevenly. This also placed extra pressure on maintainers to manage rewards fairly, adding to their existing workload.

Additionally, the system attracted "bounty hunters"—contributors who grabbed rewards and disappeared. Many of these contributors were used to receiving rewards for low-value or minor PRs, which did not contribute meaningfully to the ecosystem.

We wanted to create a more balanced and fair system. We recognize this is a work in progress, and we are committed to making continuous improvements to ensure fairness and sustainability in future rounds.

The Spirit of Open-Source Contributions

Remember, open-source contributions are about:

• Exploring, learning, and building skills
• Collaboration and innovation
• Rewards as a bonus, not an entitlement