One of the most respected Bitcoin developers wants to offer a new source of revenue to a new generation of open-source developers.

Jimmy Song, known for his easy-to-understand technical analysis of cryptocurrency, is designing a laboratory to train and pay crypto developers under his new auspices as a Blockchain Capital partner. Nicknamed unprofessionally Platypus Labs, the project will support developers with a combination of residencies and scholarships, with a focus on Bitcoin Core-based coders, the most-used version of bitcoin software. .

According to Song, the project, although still in its infancy, has already attracted the interest of several companies in Blockchain Capital's portfolio, as well as the A number of investors who bought venture capital funds.

This is not so surprising given the lack of talent in the space compared to the number of developer jobs needed. According to Indeed.com statistics, the number of blockchain jobs posted in the United States increased by 207% between December 2016 and December 2017.

Bart Stephens, co-founder of Blockchain Capital, told CoinDesk: "Without exception, all 62 companies in the Blockchain Capital portfolio need engineering talent. we support and contribute to the ecosystem in this way. "

With such enthusiasm already, Song expects to launch a scholarship or residency program in the next two months.

While the project, which will have a physical location in San Francisco, will focus primarily specifically on building the developer ecosystem around bitcoin, the lab could eventually expand to include other cryptocurrencies.

Song tells CoinDesk:

"We want to reward developers because they obviously add tremendous value to the ecosystem, and we want to see them being compensated, if that's what they want to do. "

Developer Interest

This modifier on Song's statement, however, comes from the fact that developer participation could be more difficult.

During Bitcoin's early childhood, all Core developers were volunteers, working for free on the code during their free time. Although at other times, the developers had large amounts of bitcoin and therefore worked on the code to protect their investment.

"If you own a lot of bitcoin, then it is in your interest to work on it – at least that's why I started contributing to Core," Song said.

But as Bitcoin became more popular, educational institutions such as MIT and risky start-ups like BitPay, Blockstream and Chain Code Labs started hiring Bitcoin developers to continue their work on the public blockchain.

Yet, not all Core developers have shown interest in this type of monetary support, in part because of the perception of working for a company in relation to altruistic self-reliance. work alone.

"Some developers, you 'll never get them to do that, they do it for other reasons than money," Song said. "But certainly, if this is a concern, and if it's something that some developers are interested in, we want to support that."

Supply and Demand

Song also wants to support new developers who might want to train in emerging technology, but who have limited resources to do so.

While Song has made 14 changes to the Bitcoin Core code, he is best known as an educator, making his name through Programming Blockchain, a two-day seminar designed to give Python developers the skills to write code for Bitcoin applications.

Still, he wants to add to that with Platypus Labs, primarily by teaching developers how to update the basic infrastructure that has been neglected for some time.

First of all, there are open source bitcoin libraries, such as bitcoinj, the bitcoin library, which was already starting to age when its creator Mike Hearn completely abandoned Bitcoin in 2016.

"Many open source libraries in Bitcoin have fallen into disuse," he said. "We would like to make sure that these are strengthened for the sake of our portfolio companies at the very least, but also for the sake of the ecosystem."

In this quest, Song is contacting each of Blockchain Capital's 62 portfolio companies to ask them which coding libraries they use. He also asks them what new tools they need and what other ways Platypus Labs could be beneficial to them.

Once this recognition is over, Song expects to officially reveal the criteria for joining the laboratory.

On top of that, he will be touring the industry for companies – in which Blockchain Capital could invest – run by entrepreneurs able to code the "basics really, very well".

Speaking of both his expansion of the role on Blockchain Capital with his lab, plus his thesis for finding companies in which the company to invest, Song told CoinDesk:

"I like to see companies that innovate and do not seek rent."

Image via CryptoPotato YouTube

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