Bitcoin ABC is focused on scaling Bitcoin Cash to serve the payments needs of billions of daily users. We aim to change civilization as we know it, and materially empower the world with greater liberty and prosperity.

Bitcoin ABC needs funding right now to continue the development of Bitcoin Cash towards goals that aim to improve miners’ efficiency and profitability and can enable many other Bitcoin Cash business plans.

Bitcoin ABC’s full node software is open source, so we don’t have customer contracts. That said, billions of dollars of value has been created by Bitcoin ABC through our creation of Bitcoin Cash and through the block rewards granted to the creators of more than 52,000 BCH blocks per year. More than 95% of all Bitcoin Cash blocks are, and have been, mined with Bitcoin ABC’s Bitcoin Cash full node software.

Bitcoin ABC revenue streams include the following.

Corporate Sponsorships . We are offering sponsorships to Bitcoin Cash miners and businesses.

Community Donations. Such as the Coin Dance and 2019 Bitcoin Cash Protocol Development fundraisers, as well as direct donations via the bitcoinabc.org website.

We are carrying out a fundraiser during the month of Apr 2020 at fund.bitcoinabc.org that includes these options.

Some ideas Bitcoin ABC might explore for the future include the following.

Support Agreements . Bitcoin ABC might sell support agreements to miners and businesses. These would serve as a kind of insurance policy for Bitcoin Cash businesses. The support agreements could be tiered and/or pay-per-incident. Emergency support could be provided immediately for those willing to pay the most. Support might be apportioned based on a points scheme, such as this one https://admin.phacility.com/book/phacility/article/mana/.

Linux Foundation Model . Through sponsorships, development-for-hire, training, events and more, Bitcoin ABC might employ a small team to coordinate forward progress for the Bitcoin Cash protocol while harmonizing the sometimes conflicting interests of competitors in the space.

Pay-to-Build Buckets . This would come under the community donations heading and might enable donors to contribute towards specific roadmap milestones. It’s important to keep in mind that BCH protocol development priorities have a logic all their own, and can not always be changed by popular vote. Some things are best done before others to save time and money, and avoid unexpected problems.

The Bitcoin ABC Store . Bitcoin ABC might sell swag online.

Crowdfunding . For example via OpenCollective, LiberaPay, “Buy Me a Coffee” or Patreon. It is important to note that for Bitcoin ABC to interact with fiat payments represents a legal and compliance burden that may cost more than it is worth.

Bounties, Grants & Awards . We are keeping our eyes out for any such opportunities. We might develop a formal, legal process to offer Bitcoin ABC a bounty.

Dual Licensing / Open-Core . There is a possibility of requiring a license for commercial use and/or releasing a basic full node client but charging for add-ons, or otherwise modifying the Bitcoin ABC license.

The Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP). If all else fails, miners may be incentivized to implement an infrastructure funding plan that involves a percentage-based contribution of the Bitcoin Cash block reward to Bitcoin Cash development teams.

Even if the one-time and ongoing costs of receiving fiat payments are surmountable given sufficient funding for the already overworked team, the question remains: Is Patreon a sensible way to finance free and open-source software infrastructure development?

Current research points to a clear and conclusive no.

Successful Patreons for software development are few and far between. The most successful appears to be for VueJS, which is very frontend (basically the opposite of Bitcoin ABC's protocol development), and produces about USD$200,000 per year on the high end after years of promotion.

Patreon for protocol development, for building software infrastructure, is just not a strategy that seems to align with the reality in evidence from the experiences of other free and open-source software projects.

Bitcoin ABC is definitely keeping it in mind for the future though.

It is important to note that, at this time, there are minimal funds and developer time available to develop additional revenue streams. Bitcoin ABC aims to innovate in this area in the future, once initial Bitcoin Cash infrastructure development needs are on a steady foundation.

Also, any activity to raise funds that takes developers away from developing directly on Bitcoin Cash ultimately needs to be judged on a strict cost-benefit ratio, since the mission of Bitcoin ABC is to develop the Bitcoin Cash protocol. We need to remain focused on that mission.

Donations, or altruism, is a key revenue source we aim to cultivate and support. But it is important to recognize that altruism is not a solid foundation on which to build censorship-resistant P2P value transfer for the world.

Bitcoin ABC remains committed to only accepting funds with conditions that are aligned with the best interests of Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin ABC.

Join the Bitcoin ABC team in building censorship-resistant P2P electronic cash for billions of daily users and realizing the vision that is Bitcoin Cash!

Visit fund.bitcoinabc.org to find our business plan, budget, delivery timeline, funding options and feedback mechanisms.

We can only do this together.

Got questions? Ask us below.