Spiral supports Bitcoin innovation with grants to Sean Gilligan and a significant donation to the Bitcoin Design Foundation.
Spiral, a prominent supporter of open-source Bitcoin initiatives, has recently announced a new grantee, Sean Gilligan, and made a substantial donation to the Bitcoin Design Foundation. In a tweet, Spiral revealed, "New grantee. Sean Gilligan is building on a version of the FOSS Validating Lightning Signer that runs in a Secure Enclave."
New grantee. Sean Giligan (@msgilligan) is building on a version of the FOSS Validating Lightning Signer (@VLSProject) that runs in a Secure Enclave. Learn more here https://t.co/wUzFavWhIf if you feel like learning or click here if you don’t: https://t.co/9vgKMb1NsV
— Spiral (@spiralbtc) May 20, 2024
The Bitcoin Design Foundation, an entity dedicated to enhancing the user experience, has expressed appreciation for the support it has received from Spiral. A post by the foundation stated, "The foundation has received a large donation from Spiral. We’d like to express our deep gratitude for the continued support of the mission to support designers and builders who help push the user experience and adoption of bitcoin and related technologies forward. The design community and foundation would not exist without them."
Previously, Spiral had focused on providing grants directly to designers within the open-source Bitcoin ecosystem. With this recent development, the foundation is now set to independently issue grants aimed at design and user research. The Bitcoin Design Foundation's blog post urged current Spiral design grantees, whose grants are nearing completion, to seek new grants from the foundation.
The blog also highlighted the increased responsibility that the foundation now shoulders, acknowledging the rarity of grants for open-source Bitcoin designers. The foundation hopes to raise awareness for its mission and connect talented design grantees with other sponsorship opportunities.
Sean Gilligan's work can be explored further through the provided GitHub link, which offers insights into his project involving the FOSS Validating Lightning Signer operating within a Secure Enclave.
As for the future implications, with Spiral's significant financial contribution, the Bitcoin Design Foundation is poised to expand its support for the Bitcoin design community. This could potentially lead to more user-friendly Bitcoin-related products and services, thereby fostering greater adoption. The foundation's increased funding and focus on design and user research may also attract more talent to the field, contributing to the overall growth and development of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
