BitMEX parent and OKCoin grant $150,000 to Bitcoin core developer Amiti Uttarwar 

Crypto exchange BitMEX's parent HDR Global Trading and OKCoin have jointly awarded $150,000 to Bitcoin core developer Amiti Uttarwar.

OKCoin told The Block that the grant is a 50/50 split between the two exchanges and will be paid out to Uttarwar monthly over the course of a year. Uttarwar previously worked as a software engineer at Coinbase and was a full-time Bitcoin developer at crypto wallet provider Xapo.

With the fresh funding in place, Uttarwar plans to focus on projects related to Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer (P2P) layer. 

“There’s still a ton of development” work that needs to be done, said Uttarwar. “There are only 30-40 developers who contribute to Bitcoin full-time. It’s a $150 billion industry now and we’re building towards a functional, decentralized and global currency - so we have a long way to go."

"This grant enables me to continue my mission to make the Bitcoin network more reliable, private and understandable to the benefit of everyone,” she added.

BitMEX and OKCoin are regular grantees in the space. BitMEX recently awarded $100,000 to Bitcoin core contributor Gleb Naumenko, while the OKCoin granted $100,000 to BTCPay Server. 

Hong Fang, CEO of OKCoin, told The Block that the exchange has more grants in the pipeline for 2020 meant for developers who are building “independent, open-source and/or decentralized software in blockchain and bitcoin.”

"While the Bitcoin network itself is open source and decentralized, we also need to develop a decentralized way to fund independent developers. More parties participating in this would lead to a more healthy and more sustainable future for the industry,” Fang said. 

Last week, the Human Rights Foundation also started a Bitcoin development fund, which aims to support developers working on privacy-focused Bitcoin projects and made its first grant to CoinSwap.