Web3 Foundation & Latest Approved Grants In 2024 (Updated)

Imagine a world where data flows freely, not controlled by corporations, a web governed by its users, where power lies not with tech giants, but with individuals.

Welcome to the vision of the Web3 Foundation, where the engineers building the tools and technologies for this decentralized future are all located.

Think of them as architects, carefully laying the foundation for a new landscape.

But they’re not just bricklayers; they’re also encouraging innovation, empowering communities, and shaping the conversation about responsible development in this new digital experience.

In this article, we take a deep look into what the web3 foundation is all about, their projects, their mission and the newly approved grants in the new year 2024.

What is the Web3 Foundation All About?

The Web3 Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and stewarding technologies and applications for a decentralized web, specifically focusing on decentralized web software protocols.

They believe in an internet where:

Users control their data, not corporations.
Global digital transactions are secure and transparent.
Online exchanges of information and value are decentralized, meaning no single entity has complete control.

Founded in 2016 by blockchain pioneer Gavin Wood, the Web3 Foundation isn’t your typical non-profit. They’re not just handing out grants but actively encouraging and stewarding technologies that bring about a decentralized web.

The Web3 Foundation‘s impact extends far beyond its direct initiatives. They have played a pivotal role in shaping the web3 ecosystem, cultivating a community of developers, researchers, and devotees.

Their supported projects which will be reviewed later in this article are already tackling real-world challenges, from promoting secure and efficient financial transactions to creating decentralized social networks.

So, why does the Web3 Foundation matter?

It’s about more than just technology; it’s about reclaiming control of our digital lives and building a fairer, more open, collaborative online world. The Web3 Foundation is at the forefront of this movement, laying the groundwork for a future where the Internet truly works for everyone.

How Web3 Foundation is Shaping the Web3 Landscape

The Web3 Foundation, a non-profit organization with a bold vision for the Internet’s future, is actively shaping the emerging web3 landscape through several significant contributions.

Most of these contributions focus on infrastructure, innovation, and community building since they are in the project of laying the foundation for a decentralized, user-centric, and equitable internet.

How Web3 Foundation is Shaping the Web3 Landscape

The Web3 Foundation isn’t just building the platform; they’re also nurturing the builders.

Their Decentralized Futures Program provides crucial funding and support to a diverse range of projects. From infrastructure developers creating tools for decentralized applications to application developers building user-friendly interfaces, and introducing a vibrant ecosystem of innovators.

Also, they actively invest in education and research through grants, fellowships, and conferences. They do this through universities offering courses on blockchain technology, researchers exploring the social and economic implications of decentralization, and conferences bringing together minds from various disciplines to share knowledge and collaborate.

The research team is based out of Zug, Switzerland. Furthermore, their main areas of research are decentralized algorithms: Consensus & Optimization, Behavioural Economics & Usability, Cryptoeconomics & Game Theory, and cryptography and networking.

This investment in the knowledge economy ensures that future builders and thinkers are equipped with the necessary tools and understanding to shape the web3 landscape.

Web3 Foundation Projects

Some of the projects that the Web3 Foundation supports include:

Polkadot
Kusama
Substrate
Edgeware
Moonbeam
Acala

Polkadot: At the heart of their efforts lies Polkadot, a scalable and modular blockchain network of blockchains that allows different protocols and applications to communicate and collaborate with each other.

Polkadot acts by removing the silos that currently exist between different blockchain projects which in turn opens doors for innovative applications across finance, supply chain management, and even governance, breaking down barriers and encouraging collaboration.

Kusama: A canary network for Polkadot that serves as a testing ground and an innovation hub for new features and experiments. Instead of launching new features directly on Polkadot (the stable network), Kusama acts as a “testing ground” for them.

Substrate: A framework that allows developers to easily create and deploy custom blockchains that are compatible with Polkadot and Kusama. Substrate provides developers with pre-built components, like Lego bricks, to easily create their own blockchains. This saves them time and allows them to focus on unique features for their specific needs.

Edgeware: A smart contract platform that enables community governance and self-improvement through on-chain voting and treasury. It is all about letting its users decide how it evolves.

Moonbeam: A platform that provides Ethereum compatibility and scalability on Polkadot and Kusama. Moonbeam acts as a bridge between Ethereum and Polkadot/Kusama and lets developers familiar with Ethereum easily move their projects to Polkadot, opening up new possibilities for both communities.

Acala: A decentralized finance hub and stablecoin platform that offers cross-chain liquidity and financial services on Polkadot and Kusama. Acala is like a one-stop shop for decentralized finance (DeFi) on Polkadot and Kusama. It offers things like borrowing, lending, and creating stablecoins, all without relying on traditional banks.

Other projects supported by the web3 foundation include:

Infrastructure and Tools:

Parity Technologies: Developers of Parity Substrate, the framework used to build blockchains like Polkadot.
ChainSafe Systems: Creators of tools like Metamask, a popular cryptocurrency wallet used to interact with decentralized applications (dApps).
The Graph: Builds an indexing protocol for blockchains, which allows developers to efficiently query and retrieve data.

Applications and Use Cases:

Acala: Provides decentralized financial (DeFi) services on Polkadot, enabling borrowing, lending, and stablecoin issuance.
Cyber Republic: Builds a self-governed metaverse focused on creators and community ownership.
Lido: Enables staking various cryptocurrencies across different blockchains, offering rewards and increased access to liquidity.

Identity and Privacy:

Ceramic Network: Creates a decentralized data network for managing digital identities and storing user data securely.
StarkNet: Offers a scalability solution for Ethereum using zk-SNARKs, enabling privacy-preserving transactions.
Sovrin Foundation: Builds a global, self-sovereign identity network for individuals and organizations to control their own identity data.

Social Impact and Governance:

Ocean Protocol: Facilitates secure data sharing and monetization, enabling individuals to control and profit from their data.
Decentralized Science: Supports open-source science research and collaboration through blockchain technology.
Democracy Earth: Develops a blockchain-based voting platform for secure and transparent elections.

These are just a few examples, and the list is constantly evolving as the Web3 Foundation supports new and innovative projects. Next, we take a look at the latest grants published by the Web3 Foundation on their official website.

This section gets updated daily and contains all the required information including their progress and a link to their respective Github depositories.