Many, many developers have contributed to ’s growth since its birth in 2009.
In other words, Bitcoin is the representation of a long line of programming work. Developers have had to look for bugs, write software updates, and assume the vital task of proposing how Bitcoin might evolve.
This is busy and very careful work, and one question that crops up in general discussion of Bitcoin development is: who funds it? Are developers mostly voluntary, or are they supported by funding from interested third-parties?
And more importantly, is the current system of developer funding actually good for Bitcoin and its development? Well, according to the developers actually working with Bitcoin, it is mostly beneficial, even if certain problems need to be addressed.
Voluntary or full-time?
According to a developer who wished to remain anonymous, only a small proportion of programmers contribute to Bitcoin Core on a full-time and funded basis.
"In 2019, 150 people contributed pull requests to Bitcoin Core," he tells Cryptonews.com. "Of those, roughly 20-25 do it full-time and receive funding or salary to do so. It would be good to see this number closer to 100."
As the developer points out, there are various levels of developer involvement, with some sitting at an intermediate stage between 'full-time' and 'voluntary.'
"Another 20-25 do it regularly part-time and may or may not receive a varying amount of support," he adds. "Most contributors do it without any form of financial support, much less in a stable form. Fewer than 50-60 people contributed pull requests frequently and regularly to Bitcoin Core in 2019."
Bitcoin beneficieries
Another important question is that of who exactly funds Bitcoin developers. As Bitcoin Core developer Jimmy Song explains to Cryptonews.com, the answer is: pretty much any company with a financial interest in ensuring Bitcoin's stability and growth.
"Usually people or companies that have benefited from Bitcoin," he says. "These include companies as diverse as Blockchain.com, itBit, Square and Chaincode Labs. Many developers work on Bitcoin voluntarily as they're pretty set financially, but many also receive funding through these channels. You generally have to have a reputation first before you get funded, though."
This picture of a diverse mix of funding sources seems to be confirmed by other developers. As the anonymous developer says via email,
"From what I can see, funding is coming from companies (Blockstream, Xapo, , Bitmain, , OKEx/OkCoin, Acinq, Lightning Labs (hopefully ///Gemini/ soon, etc.), patronage/R&D structures (Chaincode Labs, Square Crypto, MIT DCI, HardCore.Fund), and individual donors (a few large donors and a number of smaller ones)."
