Cohort 4 is ready for Applications
This cohort, DeGrants will fund community-led projects that strengthen culture, participation, education, adoption, and engagement across the Stacks ecosystem. Applications open Monday, July 6 and close Sunday, July 26.
Stacks is built by more than protocols and infrastructure. It is also built by the creators, educators, organizers, collectors, contributors, and community members who help people understand why Stacks matters and how to get involved.
DeGrants exists to support that layer of the ecosystem. DeGrants aims to fund and support a wide range of projects that are beneficial to Stacks community members and the network.
This cohort will support individual applicants working on creative, educational, cultural, tooling, onboarding, NFT, BNS, public goods, and community projects that help more people understand, use, contribute to, or participate in Stacks.
Key Dates
- Applications Open: Monday, July 6, 2026
- Applications Close: Sunday, July 26, 2026
- Awarded Grantees Announced: Friday, July 31, 2026
What the Community is Funding
For this cohort, DeGrants will provide grants ranging from $3,000 to $5,000.
This cohort is intentionally focused on fewer, larger awards, so funding is meaningful for grantees, and the process remains manageable for the community stewards.
Previous DeGrants cohorts included smaller awards, which created a high amount of coordination relative to the size of each grant. This relaunch is designed to support stronger projects with clearer deliverables, stronger accountability, and a better path to visible outcomes.
What DeGrants Is For
DeGrants is intended for individual contributors working on projects that strengthen the Stacks ecosystem through community value, adoption, participation, education, or culture.
Projects may include:
- Creative or cultural ecosystem projects
- NFT-related projects
- BNS-related projects
- Content and educational resources
- Community activations
- Events or local meetups
- Lightweight tools or prototypes
- Public goods
- Ecosystem experiments
- Projects that help re-engage or grow the Stacks community
Strong projects should have a clear audience, a clear deliverable, and a credible path to usage, participation, or impact.
What Makes a Strong Application
DeGrants is not guaranteed funding for everyone who applies. Funding is limited, and applications will be reviewed based on quality, relevance, feasibility, and expected impact.
Strong applications should clearly explain:
- What the grant will fund
- Who the project is for
- Why the Stacks community should fund it
- What value will the project create
- What evidence exists that people want or need it
- How people will find, use, attend, mint, read, watch, or engage with it
- What will be delivered
- How impact, adoption, usage, or engagement will be shown
The goal is to fund projects that create real value for the Stacks ecosystem, not just ideas that sound interesting.
Milestones
Each funded project will have two milestones.
Milestone 1: Delivery or Launch
The first milestone should show that the project was created, launched, published, hosted, or otherwise delivered.
Examples include a live tool, published content, event completion, NFT launch, BNS resource, demo video, public link, GitHub repo, or other concrete output.
Milestone 2: Impact, Adoption, Usage, or Engagement
The final milestone should show whether the project created value after delivery.
Examples include user numbers, attendance, wallets, mints, content reach, engagement metrics, transactions, integrations, community feedback, partner usage, or a public recap with lessons learned.
Funded projects should not only be completed. They should show that someone used, wanted, attended, adopted, engaged with, or benefited from the work.
Individual Applicants Only
For this cohort, DeGrants will only process grants for individual applicants.
Organizations, companies, and formal teams are not eligible to apply directly. If a project has collaborators, one individual must apply as the project lead and be responsible for KYC, payment, communication, and delivery.
Selected grantees must be willing and able to complete individual KYC before payment can be processed.
Community-Led Selection
DeGrants is community-managed. DeGrants is organized by members of the Stacks community called Community Stewards, along with the Stacks Endowment. Stewards work together to decide how funding is allocated. Applications will be reviewed by a committee of 3 Community Stewards using a simple scoring process designed specifically for community grants. The Stacks Endowment provides the funding and operational support, while Community Stewards decide which projects receive awards.
Stewards will consider criteria such as:
- Stacks ecosystem relevance
- Community reach and engagement
- Creative or educational value
- Inclusivity and accessibility
- Evidence of demand or validation
- Clarity of deliverables
- Feasibility
- Applicant's ability to execute
- Impact, adoption, or usage potential
This structure keeps DeGrants rooted in community decision-making while adding clearer expectations around quality, accountability, and outcomes.
Community Stewards
This cohorts's Stewards are:
(1) Jack Binswitch is a Bitcoin and Stacks ecosystem builder focused on advancing decentralized technologies, community growth, and open-source innovation. Through educational content, ecosystem advocacy, and active participation in governance discussions, Jack helps connect builders, users, and projects while promoting Bitcoin's expanding role as the foundation for Web3 applications.
(2) MrWagmi is a prominent Bitcoin and Stacks community advocate known for sharing market insights, ecosystem updates, and educational content. Passionate about Bitcoin adoption and decentralized innovation, he actively engages with builders, investors, and community members, helping amplify emerging projects and strengthen the broader Bitcoin economy.
(3) GPSC is a respected contributor within the Stacks ecosystem, community manager for StackingDAO & ZEST, recognized for supporting community initiatives, governance discussions, and ecosystem development. Through thought leadership, collaboration, and advocacy, GPSC helps drive awareness of Bitcoin-powered applications while fostering engagement among developers, creators, entrepreneurs, and blockchain enthusiasts worldwide.
How to Apply
Applying is straightforward:
- Visit https://zeroauthoritydao.com/funding/degrants
- Complete the DeGrants application form.
- Tell us what you want to build, create, host, publish, or launch.
- Explain why the Stacks community should fund it.
- Share what evidence you have that people want or need it.
- Define your two milestones: delivery first, then impact.
- Submit before Sunday, July 26.
Help Grow the Stacks Community
DeGrants is for the people helping Stacks grow from the community outward.
If you are working on a project that strengthens Stacks culture, expands participation, improves onboarding, supports creators, activates local communities, creates useful resources, or gives people a new way to engage with the ecosystem, we want to hear from you.
Applications open Monday, July 6 and close Sunday, July 26. Awarded grantees will be announced on Friday, July 31.
Apply here: https://zeroauthoritydao.com/funding/degrants
Questions? Reach out to degrants@stacksendowment.co
