Open-source Bitcoin Development Funded Mostly By Blockstream and Lightning Labs

Bitcoin (BTC) has today become synonymous with cryptocurrencies and decentralization. What began as a project know only to tech enthusiasts and cryptographers has now gained reputation of the most radical innovation in the world of finance and technology. Many companies turned to Bitcoin, and recent BitMEX findings identify entities which contribute to the open-source development of the cryptocurrency and the Bitcoin Core project. According to the data provided by BitMEX, blockchain technology company, Blockstream and Lightning Labs are the largest contributors to Bitcoin development.

Besides Blockstream and Lightning Labs supporting Bitcoin development, other companies contribute to the Bitcoin Core project, according to the report:

“We looked at the Bitcoin Core project and identified the top 33 contributors by all-time number of commits and then attempted to establish the current funding source for each developer. This chart shows that Chaincode Labs is the most prolific financial supporter of Bitcoin development.”

Speaking about the general health of the ecosystem and the transparency, the report noted:

“Although the funding situation could improve, in our view the data indicates that the ecosystem is in a reasonably strong situation with respect to developer funding, based on metrics such as the distribution of funders and transparency.”

The report proceeds to state that in terms of funding distribution of Bitcoin Core while Chaincode Labs is a definite leader, it is possible to make a funding landscape more diverse. In the past, especially during the period from 2012-2014, the Bitcoin foundation was the main source of funds, the report noted that in comparison to that time, today the number of funding sources is bigger.

Outlining the challenges faced in terms of funding, BitMEX’s report listed some of the toughest issues:

“More sustainable developer financing, including a large share of funding coming from retained earnings from businesses with different business models, and ensuring developers effectively collaborate while receiving independent funding sources.”