Avalanche to reward devs building layer-1 chains with $40M grant

The Avalanche Foundation announced a $40 million grant to support developers creating layer-1 blockchains on the Avalanche network. 

On Sept. 26, Avalanche unveiled “Retro9000,” a retroactive grant program that supports its most recent upgrade called “Avalanche9000.” The upgrade gives developers a simpler and more economical way to create L1 blockchains. 

An Avalanche spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the upgrade brings the network closer to its vision. “This is the largest upgrade in Avalanche’s history and brings it closest to the original vision outlined in the white paper,” the spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson added that their goal with the grant program is to “build a strong pipeline of builders” who see new technical solutions as a means to deliver their product or business to the masses.

Developing layer 1 blockchains and critical tooling

In the announcement, Avalanche also said the Retro9000 grant program will reward developers who build L1 chains and critical developer tooling on the Avalanche9000 testnet. 

According to Avalanche, submissions will be ranked on a public leaderboard, with community votes guiding the distribution of retroactive grants. Avalanche said the program encourages devs to build in public, earn the community’s support, and test and ship projects to receive rewards.

The grant program is funded by the Avalanche Foundation, an organization that supports initiatives to foster the adoption of the Avalanche blockchain network. According to the foundation, the grant program’s goal is to incentivize the testing and launching of foundational ecosystem building blocks on Avalanche. 

Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo, the chief operating officer at Ava Labs, said that the Avalanche9000 upgrade is a culmination of years of development work. 

“Leveraging this moment, the Retro9000 incentivized testnet program attempts to bootstrap an L1 ecosystem and provide the earliest and most engaging developers incentives to build their product,” DeMeo said. 

Related: Franklin Templeton expands blockchain fund to Avalanche network

Supporting the Avalanche9000 upgrade

The spokesperson stressed that community votes are also an important factor for developers who want to get their rewards from the grant program. They said: 

“The community is engaged to signal their preferences and vote on builders. While ultimately the discretion is for the Avalanche Foundation to reward builders who build Avalanche L1s and related tooling, the community votes and leaderboard are a key point of consideration.” 

The Avalanche spokesperson also told Cointelegraph that this is only the first of many programs that will be launched to ensure that its Avalanche9000 upgrade will be successful.

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