‍RFP submissions open until June 6, 2022. [Apply now!]

Currently, the R&D Grants program is offering bounties for building and demonstrating trust-minimized asset-transfer bridges between Stellar and one or more cryptocurrency ecosystems.

The Bridge Bounty program will award up to $1M worth of XLM to each selected project and plans to select up to five projects. We are looking for submissions that are well-scoped, have clear deliverables and concrete timelines, and come from qualified teams with proven capability to define benchmarks, conduct experiments, and deliver results. Only submissions that meet our Bounty Eligibility Guidelines will be considered. 

To apply for the Bridge Bounty, please read the information below, and complete the submission form by June 6, 2022. All decisions made with respect to the Bridge Bounty program are made at the sole and absolute discretion of SDF.

Process 

1. Submit a proposal by June 6, 2022.
2. The SDF Grants Committee will review proposals within 10 days of submission, and reach out if the Committee has questions or needs more information. 
3. Projects selected by the Committee must submit certain business and legal diligence materials and pass compliance checks in order to be selected and to be eligible to receive any XLM award.
4. If your proposal is selected by the Committee and deemed eligible, the XLM awards will be distributed as follows:

1. $25,000 worth of XLM upon selection of your bridging project.
2. $150,000 worth of XLM upon successful mainnet launch of your bridging project, must be completed within 6 months of your selection notification. 
3. $825,000 worth of XLM upon demonstration that your bridging project remains active for one year following your mainnet launch. 

Rationale

DeFi ecosystems are fertile ground for financial innovation but typically lack access to local financial rails. In contrast, Stellar has access to local financial rails, but innovation on Stellar is currently limited to the protocol. Building interoperability between Stellar and one or more DeFi ecosystems will allow Stellar to become the gateway for providing users of the global financial system with equitable access to innovative DeFi solutions. Bridges will also provide a reference point for how other chains can launch integrations with Stellar.

Requirements

• Build and demonstrate an asset-transfer bridge between Stellar and one or more cryptocurrency ecosystems.
• The bridge must be trust-minimized. There cannot be a single entity that operates the bridge.
• The bridge can be novel, but the SDF Grants Committee has a preference for projects that seek to integrate Stellar into existing bridging solutions. 
• The bridge must include a web portal that can coordinate swaps and provide proof of assets (see example).
• The bridge must have an open API for wallet integration.