Marathon Group, a Bitcoin mining company, serves as the provider of the financing. Jonas Schnelli will receive his payments in bitcoins (BTC) monthly.
The development of Bitcoin Core, the most widely used client of the Bitcoin protocol, keeps receiving aid and support from essential companies in the crypto world.
On January 28, Marathon Group, a cryptocurrency mining company with roots in the United States, announced that it would grant USD 96,000 to developer Jonas Schnelli in one year. This developer is a long-time collaborator of the Bitcoin Core client since 2013.
The software developer will receive his monthly payments in bitcoins for one year so that the specialist dedicates full time to the client’s maintenance and development.
As the company clarified in a press release, Schnelli received financing from the cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain. Last year this subsidy came to an end, leaving the developer as a free agent. Marathon is now taking this chance to support the Bitcoin developer with a considerable amount to earn in Switzerland, where Schnelli resides.
Companies Can Also Support the Development of Bitcoin
Marathon said that the company is to a similar strategy that the US exchange Coinbase followed with developers Joao Barbosa and 0xB10C (anonymous who identifies himself by this name).
This exchange house paid both specialists to work on the development of Bitcoin Core throughout 2021. Bitmain also received both developers until Coinbase took part in this patronage.
Although some Bitcoin mining companies’ past practices were under suspicion and received many doubts from the community, such as the Slush Pool, the Bitcoin code’s integrity would represent at risk if the developers alongside the community uphold the ethos of the protocol.
Merrick Okamoto, CEO of Marathon, clarified in the press release that the support to Schnelli is the company’s contribution to the Bitcoin network. Okamoto also considers that something like adopting the cryptocurrency in the long term will create a severe impact on his business model, Bitcoin mining.
Beyond pointing out the conflict of interest, users build Bitcoin’s structure, which can verify the network’s integrity and develop functionalities and services around the technology. In this way, It is essential to consider that Schnelli also developed a code library for those who desire to create Bitcoin apps.
During the past year, several Bitcoin developers received support from many important companies in the crypto world. A very relevant case is Pieter Wuille, a pioneer developer of Bitcoin, who left his 6-year position at Blockstream to join Chaincode Labs.
The Gemini exchange also announced that it is working on granting up to $ 200,000 to various Bitcoin Core developers through the Opportunity Fund- A fund that the brothers Winklevoss are leading in command.
By: Jenson Nuñez
