“Free, open-source software (FOSS) development is largely funded through grants, sponsorships and donations to individuals for work on specific projects, or through ad hoc “bounties” that promise payment for a requested solution, feature, or project.””One problem with this system is that grantors and donors have complete discretion over payment.””Another problem with the current system is that grantors can have an outsized influence on the direction of open-source development.””Finally, grantors and donors must engage in a time-consuming and sometimes challenging due diligence process to determine whether the developers have built a solution that meets the bounty or grant’s criteria.””As a solution to these problems, we can transfer review of bounty applications to a bitcoin-native dispute resolution system. A panel of experienced, independent, third-party reviewers are selected by a coordinator to adjudicate whether a bounty’s criteria has been met by the applicant.””The review panel serves as an oracle to trigger release of the grant funds from a bitcoin-native, non-custodial escrow.””Grantors contemporaneously fund the escrow when posting bounties to a public bulletin board.””By outsourcing bounty review to a panel of third-party neutrals that trigger automatic payment, we can eliminate donor discretion and provide assurances to developers that they will be compensated for compliant work product.””Donors are spared the time, cost, and effort of reviewing applications. And by removing this barrier to entry, anyone with access to the Bounty Board and a bitcoin wallet can create bounties or fund existing ones, thereby decentralizing funding sources.””Finally, developers serving as neutral Reviewers can be compensated for review work that they may have been doing already on a volunteer basis.”
