Polkadot Fast-Grants Bounty

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6d ago

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AI Summary

Hey Everyone!

We’re honoured to propose the Polkadot Fast-Grants Bounty.

The purpose of this bounty is to fund the fast-grants programme for early-stage builders on Polkadot. This will be modelled on Solana’s fast-grants model with a similar goal, but for Polkadot: anyone who wants to build on Polkadot can get initial funding to do so.

The problem (summarised)

This bounty is a response to the following problems in the Polkadot builder funnel:

Polkadot doesn’t have clear funding opportunities for very early-stage builders; and
There is no fast way for developers inspired about Polkadot to get funding to build.

These are both holding back the Polkadot ecosystem, and other blockchains that have solved this are rapidly growing their developer base.

The solution (summarised)

The good news is that the answer to the above problems is simple:

A clear programme for early-stage builders to get funding (up to $10,000 each); and
Approvals made as fast as within 72 hours

Curators

The curators have deep, sector-specific experience across the Polkadot and builder ecosystems, and are strongly positioned to steward this bounty. The multisig will be a 3 out of 5:

Otar Shakarishvili (Project Advisor and Governance Specialist at JUST Open Source, ex-Parity Project Manager)
Sacha Lansky (Developer Relations at WebZero, ex-Parity Engineering)
Flavio Bianchi (Polimec Foundation Council Member, Polimec Marketing and BD)
Phil Kwok (Co-Founder of EasyA and the EasyA x Polkadot University)
Dom Kwok (Co-Founder of EasyA and the EasyA x Polkadot University)

Community feedback

Thank you to everyone who helped shape this bounty, from the discussions we had on our previous post, to those who gave feedback live when we presented on AAG for that earlier discussion post (the recording for which is available here).

We’ve reviewed it all in detail as curators, and are delighted to have updated our proposal taking into account your feedback.

The main points/questions from the community were:

How will success be measured
How many projects will be funded (and for how much)
What expertise the curators have to manage the bounty

In summary, we have:

Reduced the bounty size by half (to demonstrate success first)
Clarified the definition of what success looks like
Made clear that this is not an EasyA bounty, but an ecosystem-wide one which will benefit the whole community and has a broad base of support (EasyA is just one of the proponents)
Confirmed the types of projects which will be funded

Executive summary

Summarised in 5 points, this bounty is:

Fast: Because we don’t want people to dismiss Polkadot for other ecosystems
Retroactive: So builders can’t leave with the funds without delivering
Milestone-based: So we can ensure developers are building what we want to see on Polkadot
Low-risk: If there aren’t enough satisfactory projects to fund, the bounty will simply be returned
First point of contact: Designed to open opportunities and a way into Polkadot (not designed to be the last point of contact).

Full proposal

As curators, we’ve brainstormed together and refined our approach to maximise the success of the bounty. This is now reflected in our updated full proposal here.

This includes more detail on the differences between this Bounty and the others that already exist, how it will work with those ecosystems, success metrics, budget, the Bounty manifesto, and other important information.

This bounty will benefit the whole Polkadot ecosystem, including programmes further downstream, producing top talent for bounties like the Dot Play and Open Source Developer Grants Bounty, with whom we are collaborating closely. Importantly, this bounty is synergistic with, and different from, the other active bounties.

We will be presenting on the upcoming AAGs to share more about our vision for the Fast-Grants Bounty as well as answer any questions the community have, and we would also be delighted to have your feedback here.

We’re looking forward to attracting the best talent to Polkadot with these fast-grants! Especially with smart contracts coming to Asset Hub, JAM on the horizon and so much more coming for builders on Polkadot, the time is now!

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14z2...XW3q

@Pray4Love Thanks for sharing your idea! To be considered for a Polkadot Fast-Grant, please submit it via the official GitHub application: https://github.com/Polkadot-Fast-Grants/apply

14z2...XW3q

Q2 Polkadot Fast-Grants Bounty Report

Fast‑Grants has seen an exceptionally strong start since going live on 1 April 2025. In just three months, we recorded 91 complete applications, approved 22 projects, and processed 5 milestone deliveries across DePIN, AI, developer tooling, NFTs and DeFi. Total spend so far is 7,861 DOT (≈ 34.1k), leaving 59,844 DOT in the pool.

By the Numbers

Metric	Value
Total submissions	91
Total Projects Approved	22
Pending Reviews	21
Milestones Delivered	5
Active Contributors Across Funded Projects	50+
Median Time-to-Milestone	≈ 6 weeks

Delivered So Far

So far, 5 milestones have been successfully delivered, including:

1️⃣ Papi Simulator

A developer tool that simulates PAPI (Polkadot API) interactions. It helps teams test and validate their dApps without needing to connect to a live network, improving developer experience and speeding up development cycles.

2️⃣ Insuracle

A decentralised insurance protocol. It allows users to create and join mutual insurance pools with transparent rules and payouts anchored on-chain, aiming to disrupt traditional insurance models with fairness and automation.

3️⃣ .escrow

A decentralized escrow platform offering tiered pricing models. It lets users hold funds securely during peer-to-peer transactions until both parties confirm satisfaction. Perfect for freelancers and marketplaces needing trustless payments.

4️⃣ Papi Simulator – 2nd Milestone

The second delivery expands on the initial PAPI Simulator, adding new APIs, better test coverage, and more complex simulation scenarios for developers building in the Polkadot ecosystem.

5️⃣ KeyPass

A secure password and credential manager built on Polkadot. Users can store, share, and retrieve their sensitive data with blockchain-backed encryption, ensuring ownership and tamper-proof access. More milestone deliveries are expected in the coming weeks as teams continue building.

Program Spend So Far

Category	Amount	USD*
Total Grant Budget	67705 DOT	294k
Milestone Delivery Reward	5941 DOT	25.8k
Curator Reward for Q2	1920 DOT	8.3k
Remaining Pool	59844 DOT	259k

*USD conversions use the 7‑day EMA of $4.34 / DOT (Subscan, 23 Jul 2025).

Budget Projection (as at Q2 close)

Item	DOT	USD	Notes
Max outstanding liability (22 projects × $10k)	50688	220k	Assuming every approved project earns its full cap.
Minus milestones already paid	-5941	25.8K	5 deliveries
Potential future grant spend	44747	194K
Q3 curator reward	3840	16.6K
Total soft committed	48587	211K	Future grants + Q3 curators
Buffer after commitments	11257	49k	Capacity for ~5 additional fast‑grants at $10k each.

Disclaimer: projections, not promises. All forward‑looking figures assume DOT stays at $4.34. The actual DOT amount for Q3 curator rewards and future milestones will be calculated on each payout day, so totals may move up or down with the market. Fast‑Grants only disburses funds for successfully delivered milestones. Projects that miss or fail milestones receive no payment, so the Max scenario is an upper bound.

What We Learned So Far

The first quarter of Fast Grants has been a learning experience for us as curators and for the ecosystem as a whole:

Demand is high. The number of applications far exceeded our initial expectations. This shows there’s real hunger to build on Polkadot – especially from new teams outside the ecosystem.
Backlog happens fast. With 22 projects approved and dozens more under review, we’ve had to prioritise milestone quality over speed. To help, we’re expanding the curator set starting in Q3.

What’s Next

We’re expanding the curator set from 5 to 6 for Q3 to handle the high volume. Specifically, Flavio will step down. Joining the Fast Grants curator team are:
Nikos - Lead engineer @ Polkadot Blockchain Academy - enthusiastic about things that work and look nice. I also like to build stuff.
Filip - Developer Relations Manager @ Unique Network, NFTMozaic operational core team member - very passionate about advancing blockchain technology, Polkadot tech solutions in particular, web3, and utility digital assets.

This expanded team will help us process the high application volume while continuing to uphold a high bar for quality and ecosystem alignment.

Clearing the review backlog and aiming for a 3-day decision rate on average.
Tracking which MVPs are progressing to treasury grants, parachain deployments, or market adoption.
Sharing more milestone highlights and demos with the community

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