Introduction

By now, you’ve probably heard the news—Gitcoin Grants is going multi-mechanism. As part of GG23, we’re launching our first Retro Funding Round—a new way to fund open-source software by rewarding builders who have already delivered meaningful impact.

This marks an important evolution of the program. Gitcoin Grants has always supported early-stage projects through Quadratic Funding. With Retro, we’re expanding support for mature projects that have consistently contributed to the Ethereum ecosystem over time.

These builders maintain critical infrastructure, improve developer experience, and expand access and usability across the ecosystem. By funding proven impact, we’re helping them sustain and scale their work—continuing to strengthen Ethereum through open-source contributions.

Why Retro Funding?

Since 2019, Gitcoin Grants has funded builders through Quadratic Funding (QF), a powerful model for early-stage projects to rally community support. But some projects have grown beyond this stage—they’ve demonstrated long-term impact and need funding to sustain and scale.

The Retro Round is Gitcoin’s way of recognizing these builders. GG23’s Mature Builders Retro Round provides $600k to 30 top OSS contributors. With a minimum funding floor of $10k per project, this round ensures that long-standing, high-impact projects receive meaningful support. 

We chose $10k as the floor funding amount because it's the average amount all projects received from Quadratic Funding in the Grants Program. Unlike Quadratic Funding, our top 30 builders have proven their impact and don't have to compete for matching funds. GTC holders and badgeholders will vote on funding distribution.

How We Selected the Top 30 Builders

We collaborated closely with Open Source Observer (OSO) to identify the top projects based on specific metrics. Learn more about how OSO helped us bring this round to life in this Gov Forum post. This curated round identifies the top OSS builders using a structured, data-driven approach:

Proven Track Record – Participation in multiple OSS rounds (GG18, GG19, GG20, and GG22).

Impact-Based Ranking – Builders are force-ranked using an Elo rating system, factoring in total grant volume (GMV) while adjusting for round size and competition.

 Sustained Activity – Projects must remain actively maintained, with at least one commit per week (or 25+ commits in the last 6 months).

This ensures that GG23’s Mature Builders Retro Funding round directly supports builders who have made a measurable, ongoing impact in Web3.

Meet the Builders Driving Web3 Forward

These builders have contributed to:

Developer Tooling – Libraries and frameworks for secure and efficient smart contract development.

Web3 Infrastructure – Scaling solutions, coordination tools, and foundational Ethereum infrastructure.

Open-Source dApps – Applications advancing financial inclusion, governance, and accessibility.

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Dappnode

A decentralized platform for hosting and managing blockchain nodes, simplifying participation in decentralized networks with a user-friendly interface, supporting Ethereum, Bitcoin, IPFS, and more.

The Tor Project

Developing open-source software for online privacy, the Tor Project combats tracking, surveillance, and censorship to promote human rights and freedom.

Blockscout

Blockscout is a tool for inspecting and analyzing EVM based blockchains. Blockchain explorer for Ethereum Networks.

ZK Email

Open source project providing SDKs and protocols for anonymous email content proofs on the blockchain, and a wallet using email as the signer, promoting easy Ethereum onboarding.

beaconcha.in

An open-source Ethereum network explorer offering a user-friendly interface for monitoring validators across both consensus and execution layers, with a mobile app for iOS and Android.

POAPin

an OG image service and integration for POAP in the Farcaster ecosystem, developed a sponsorship history page, enhanced web interaction, and expanded notification system for event updates. A new POAP Journal feature and apps across multiple platforms enable organized sharing and preservation of POAP collectibles.

Tape

Decentralized media-sharing platform for creators to own their content, monetize freely, and avoid censorship, with permanent on-chain storage and no gas fees on Polygon network.

Hey

Decentralized, permissionless social media app within the Polygon network, offering privacy, zero gas fees, and censorship resistance, with features like profiles, posts, NFTs, crowdfunds, and an upcoming mobile app.

JobStash

A free, automated job aggregator for the crypto space, indexing over 1500 organizations, serving job data via an open API, and fostering efficient recruitment without information gatekeeping.

Gitcoin Grants Data Portal

Open-source and serverless data hub providing consolidated Gitcoin Grants data for research, featuring automated updates, IPFS storage, and collaborative model improvement.

Citizen Wallet

An open-source mobile wallet enabling easy, customizable token transactions for community projects, aiming to simplify Web3 adoption for non-technical and non-financial users through NFC integration.

Chore Wheel

DAO platform for residential governance, successful in a 9-person house, integrates Slack-bot for community management, and aims to evolve to Web3.

Kleo Network

A decentralized platform providing developers access to high-quality, encrypted user data, where users earn rewards and control data usage through voting. Developers can personalize experiences via user-consented SDK.

Glo Dollar

A stablecoin directing all profits to fund public goods and charities, USDGLO aims to create a sustainable philanthropic funding mechanism through everyday transactions.

Hypercerts Foundation

Pioneering web3 protocols, Hypercerts transparently funds and rewards impactful work through a decentralized database, creating a sustainable revenue model beyond donations.

Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS)

These libraries and tools are designed to speed up development time, reduce errors, increase decentralization, and improve the overall experience of building trustworthy applications using attestations.

Ethers.js

Compact library for Ethereum blockchain interaction, enabling dapp, wallet creation, and data analysis with 4 million monthly npm installs.

Giveth

Giveth supports real-world impact projects in web3 by offering free fundraising tools and access to diverse donor ecosystems.

EthStaker

EthStaker is a community of 50,000+ members providing guidance, education, support, and resources for existing and potential stakers. EthStaker’s principle goal is to maximize decentralization of the Ethereum network.

rotki

Open-source tool for private portfolio tracking, accounting, and tax reporting across EVM chains, CEXes, and traditional finance, encouraging collaborative, transparent development.

Facet

Decentralized Ethereum scaling solution ensuring 100% uptime using special calldata and an open source VM, without reliance on external dependencies.

Revoke.cash

Developing open-source tools to manage and revoke token approvals for enhanced safety in web3, including a browser extension to alert users of potential malicious approvals.

ZKP2P

P2P crypto onramp using zero-knowledge proofs for payment confirmations, aiming for expansion to multiple platforms and integration with Ethereum/L2s for DeFi and NFT compatibility.

Funding the Commons

Implementing a sustainable public goods funding ecosystem through community-building, innovative funding mechanisms, integration of current platforms, and support for builders in various sectors.

Wagmi / Viem

A TypeScript interface providing composable, type-safe building blocks for Ethereum, widely used by major applications and wallets to bridge app interfaces with the protocol layer.

IDRISS

IDriss aims to improve web3 accessibility with tools like a decentralized address book, browser extensions, and donation widgets for social media and streaming platforms.

DefiLlama

Open and transparent DeFi analytics.

ShapeShift

ShapeShift DAO offers a self-custody, decentralized exchange interface with multichain support, wallet connectivity, DeFi access, NFT tracking, and community-driven development funded through Gitcoin Grants.

L2BEAT

A dedicated analytics platform, providing transparent comparisons of Ethereum L2 systems through non-trivial metrics, analysis, and contributions to the L2 ecosystem's development and governance.

Carmine Options

Carmine Finance provides DeFi risk management through an Options AMM for trading, selling options, and an open-source tool, DeRisk, for monitoring DeFi risks, plus a universal StarkNet governance framework.

What’s Next?

We are excited to pilot this experiment in GG23, and look forward to evolving and iterating the goal of supporting all our builders at every stage in their growth journey.

By funding proven impact, Gitcoin Grants is creating a more sustainable future for OSS. To the builders recognized in this round—thank you. Your work is shaping the future of decentralized technology.

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