Nervos Network sets up $30 million grant program to fund ecosystem development

Nervos Network has set up a $30 million grant program to encourage third-party developers to build and improve the infrastructure around its smart contract platform. The team is currently accepting applications with a focus on developer infrastructure proposals, such as light client protocols, cross-chain bridges, and smart contract language and tooling, among others. The stark difference in Nervos’ approach compared to other ecosystem development funds is the team intends to pay contributors in cash rather than equity or tokens.

Why it matters:

• New layer-1 projects are well aware of Ethereum’s tremendous head start, and their solution is to steal developer mindshare by using funds, often in the form of tokens, as bait (see: Polkadot Ecosystem Fund). The notable difference is Nervos is paying out in cash as opposed to tokens. The upside is there won’t be an increase in selling pressure from developer teams cashing out. On the flip side, the token distribution could suffer and concentrate around those more interested in speculating on the price.
• $30 million is a hefty sum, but Nervos raised around $100 million in two separate token sales, and incentivizing third party development is arguably one of the top priorities for open source platforms. The grant program could also be only the first effort made by Nervos to fund outside developers. At launch, the team allocated 17.0% of the total CKB supply to encourage future open source contributions.