Important Note Before You Begin

Not all PRs are eligible for a reward.

The essence of open source contributions is about building skills, joining communities, and working on projects of interest. The more you contribute—and the more high-quality contributions you make—the greater your impact and visibility. Over time, this can lead to rewards, but rewards should always be seen as a bonus, not the end goal.

Now, let’s dive into how this system works.

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What do we mean by “eligibility”? It means that if you meet the system’s evaluation criteria for impact, complexity and quality, than you have a high chance of being rewarded. Simply opening a PR does not automatically make it eligible for a reward. Participating in a project that may be eligible to a grant doesn’t guarantee a reward.

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What is Retroactive Grant Funding?

We are currently rolling out retroactive grant funding for the Starknet and Stellar ecosystems. Here’s how it works:

• For eligible projects: Grants are distributed at the beginning of each month based on the previous month’s activity.
  • Example: The grant for January’s activity is sent in early February, February’s grant is sent in early March, and so on.
• For eligible contributors: Rewards are also distributed at the start of each month, based on contributions from the previous month.

Why Are We Doing This?

The previous funding model had its limitations:

• Manual allocation of budgets led to discrepancies—some projects received more than others, and rewards weren’t always distributed fairly.
• Increased pressure on maintainers to manage rewards, adding to their workload.
• Attraction of “bounty hunters”—contributors who submitted low-value PRs just to claim rewards, without meaningfully contributing to the ecosystem.

By automating the process and prioritizing meaningful contributions, we aim to create a fairer and more sustainable funding 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.