Former CEO of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes has announced a new Bitcoin grant program for developers. Hayes made the announcement on Wednesday via his official page on X (formerly Twitter).
The former CEO is launching the fund through Maelstrom, a family office fund that invests in decentralized finance. More so, Maelstrom’s Bitcoin grant will focus on advancing the technical development of the Bitcoin network.
Furthermore, the grant will provide financial support for developers to build innovative tools. In the program, Maelstrom will offer developers grants between $50,000 to $150,000 on a 12-month plan.
At least each developer will get $250,000 from the grant. Hayes disclosed that the program is set to set off as soon as possible.
Project Could Kick Start By Q3
The popular crypto entrepreneur provided a hint that the project could commence by the third quarter of 2024. Still, there is strong assurance that by Q4 all applicants would have received their funds.
Additionally, Hayes indicated that developers can start submitting their applications with Maelstrom. According to him, the firm will stop receiving applications by August 25.
According to the announcement, Maelstrom will do the disbursement across the 12 months in BTC, USDT, and USDC. However, each recipient of the funds is envisioned to contribute to the technical development of Bitcoin.
Also, the grantees will help review the work for the Bitcoin Core software initiative. Meanwhile, there are emerging indications that the grant could drive the development of more innovation in Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (BTCFi).
It’s worth mentioning that BTCFi is a concept that focuses on developing more utility for Bitcoin.
Side Note On Arthur Hayes
At one point, Arthur Hayes was the subject of money laundering allegations while serving as the CEO of BitMEX. According to a Binbits report, a Federal District courthouse in New York sentenced Hayes to a two-year probation period in 2022.
Despite appealing the sentence, the former CEO paid a $10 million criminal fine. Similarly, other top executives of the exchange like Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed also received the sentencing.
In March 2022, a court ruled the mandatory payment of $30 million in civil monetary penalties from the three executives. During the proceedings, various allegations explained how BitMEX sacked 75 personnel from its workforce after failing to acquire popular German bank, Bankhaus con der Heyd.
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