ZKsync's first Community Activation RFP funded community events during Devconnect Buenos Aires. The submission window closed October 17, 2025, and two recipients received a combined 170,000 ZK.
Grant programs across
crypto, AI and open source.
Who funds them, what they fund and how to apply.
ZKsync's second Community Activation RFP funded an eight-week ZK Stack content experiment. The submission period ended December 3, 2025 and ZKnomist was selected to receive 300,000 ZK.
ZKsync's third Community Activation RFP funded an institutional narrative experiment. The March 20, 2026 deadline has passed and Rally was selected to receive 833,000 ZK for an eight-week program.
An Arbitrum Foundation program that subsidized third-party smart contract audits with $10M in ARB over 12 months. Applications opened 1 August 2025 and closed 31 July 2026. The Foundation has proposed a successor Arbitrum Security Program. That successor is not yet accepting applications.
Arbitrum Open House London combined a three-week online Buildathon with a three-day Founder House, technical workshops, mentorship, product sessions, and live pitches. The combined prize and grant pool was $415,000 across general, Robinhood Chain, agentic AI, and milestone-based grant tracks.
A one-time, DAO-approved incentive round that distributed roughly $50M in ARB across around 30 protocols on Arbitrum to bootstrap usage and liquidity. Recipients committed to incentive-distribution plans (e.g. liquidity mining, fee rebates) rather than open-ended grants; funded via an Arbitrum DAO governance proposal.
A follow-on, bridging round of the Short-Term Incentive Program that extended incentive funding to 39 protocols on Arbitrum after STIP Round 1 concluded, approved via Arbitrum DAO governance to avoid a funding gap while a longer-term incentive framework was designed.
The Artificial Superintelligence Alliance offered $50,000 for development of an AI-native IDE for ASI:Chain. Proposals were submitted through DeepFunding by February 13, 2026.
Avalanche Build Games 2026 was a six-week online builder competition for solo developers and small teams creating new products on Avalanche. It offered a $1 million prize pool, including a $100,000 grand prize and category awards.
Base announced Base Batches 003 as a funding and mentorship program for onchain builders, with Startup, Student, and Robotics tracks and up to $50,000 in funding per selected participant. The recorded Startup Track application window closed in March 2026; no current general application page has been confirmed.
A two-stage Bittensor builder competition for new subnet concepts and working prototypes. The program ran from December 2025 through its March 31, 2026 demo day and awarded listed prizes plus discretionary investment opportunities.
BNB Hack: AI Trading Agent Edition was an online builder competition for AI-driven trading agents on BNB Chain. The DoraHacks submission window closed June 21, 2026.
BNB Hack: US College Edition was a four-week online hackathon for U.S. college students building DeFi, AI, and platform projects on BNB Chain. The $10,000 competition closed April 20, 2026.
Buildathon for AI-native applications for autonomous systems and machine-to-machine economies on Casper; no prior Web3 experience required. Casper's standing Accelerate Grant Program is currently suspended, making this the network's active funding vehicle.
The Compound DAO Treasury Management Committee sought one or more professional treasury managers for an initial allocation of approximately $20-25 million in DAO reserves. Applications closed June 24, 2026, and the committee moved into screening and interviews.
A completed Compound Governance Support Working Group research request for analysis of delegate voting patterns and their impact. The 10,000 USDC grant was awarded to WOOF in October 2024 for a written analysis and public governance metrics dashboard.
Ethereum Foundation's Devcon team accepted proposals through August 12, 2026 for community groups to run free, topic-focused programming hubs inside Devcon 8 (Mumbai, November 3-6, 2026). Selected hubs receive a free ~48 m2 in-venue space, a dedicated stage session, and up to 5 Devcon tickets; proposals must center on a single Ethereum, open-source, or CROPS theme with no token marketing.
A 2026 call for state blockchain associations, university blockchain clubs, and community innovation groups advancing blockchain policy engagement and programming in the United States. The Digital Chamber's State Network offered five $2,000 grants, with applications due February 6 and recipients scheduled to be announced at the March 2026 DC Summit.
Status describes whether a program is running. Application methods are recorded separately. Read the funder’s terms before applying.