Human Rights Foundation issued 10 bounties worth 2 BTC each to encourage Bitcoin and Lightning Network users to be more private and secure.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF), on its website, said that additional bounties could be added in future.
It is in line with their goal of reducing authoritarianism. estimates suggest that less than a fifth (or 5%) of the global population lives in a free and democratic system. The HRF is of the opinion that Bitcoin, and bitcoin in particular, can be used to avoid centralized government control over money, something on which almost everyone relies to survive in society.
HRF Chief Strategist Alex Gladstein said that Bitcoin allowed journalists, human right defenders, and dissidents continue to receive donations “even if their fintech and banking apps are paralyzed” by draconian governments.
HRF stated that the foundation would share all 10 bitcoin challenges submissions with ‘external experts’ in order to verify their accuracy.
The HRF is accepting applications for the bounties until December 31, 2024. Unclaimed bounties are refunded to the HRF Bitcoin Development Fund. This donation pool was created in 2020.
The first two challenges are centered on privacy and user control on the network.
First, the Bitcoin UI Kit will be made open source by Penpot. Currently, the UI Kit is only available as Figma files. This is a problem because Figma proprietary software costs up to $75 per monthly. Penpot is free.
The second challenge is to deploy a production-ready payjoin version 2 protocol, which can send and receive transactions Payjoin without either party needing to run a public server.
Other challenges include improving services that are adjacent to the Bitcoin network.
Challenge no. If someone can figure out how to create encrypted Nostr groups chats that are end-to-end, then they will be able to complete Challenge 3. HRF is also looking for someone to develop a mobile Lightning address generator that can be integrated into an iOS or Android wallet.
In December 2021, the HRF launched a Bitcoin Bounty in partnership with Lightning Network payment platform Strike. The contest ran from December 31, 2022, and there were three challenges worth 3 BTC each.
Gladstein informed Blockworks that the Lightning tip jar bounty was claimed by William Casarin. William Casarin claimed Lightning tip jar. Casarin went on to create Damus. Recently had some trouble with Apple App Store over its Bitcoin tipping feature.
Gladstein confirmed that the E-Cash bounty (now Cashu) was also claimed.