Brink, a non-profit focused on funding open source Bitcoin development published its annual report detailing over $1 million in donations to Bitcoin developers in 2023. It was founded in 2020 by renowned Bitcoin developers John Newbery and Mike Schmidt, aims to provide financial support and mentorship to promising developers working on open-source Bitcoin development.
In the report published on its 4th anniversary, Brink disclosed it received approximately $2.4 million in donations last year from over 500 contributors, with Jack Dorsey’s StartSmall initiative as a major donor.
Brink’s expenses totalled around $1.6 million in 2023. Over $1.2 million went directly to developer salaries and grants, enabling them to focus on Bitcoin protocol improvements.
As Bitcoin’s code is maintained voluntarily by open-source developers, organizations like Brink help ensure adequate funding for critical work on the protocol. Proponents believe having more full-time developers improving Bitcoin results in a stronger network.
The report highlighted major achievements from Brink-sponsored developers in areas like code review, security enhancements, testing infrastructure, and upgrade research.
The annual report provided transparency into how Brink is directing funding to support Bitcoin’s developer community. Its disclosure of expenses and engineering progress helps validate the non-profit’s role in sustaining Bitcoin as a decentralized open source project.