Overview of worthy projects to donate in Gitcoin Grant Round 21
Old players gather again with new concepts.Author: CryptoLeo, Odaily Planet Daily
Gitcoin donations have started again, and this round (Gitcoin Grants Round 21) marks the 21st round of donations for Gitcoin. Gitcoin Grants Round 21 (GG 21) focuses on ecosystem and community-driven initiatives. The themes are collaboration, new governance processes, and external partnerships. There are a total of 9 community rounds, primarily centered around the Arbitrum chain, with the earliest donation deadline set for August 21 at 19:00 (Beijing time).
There will be no extensive explanation about Gitcoin Grant introductions and operations; you can find related content in previous Gitcoin Grant donation materials (e.g., A Minimalist Guide to Gitcoin Grants Round 20). In this article, Odaily Planet Daily has selected 29 projects worth donating to from GG 21 based on ecosystems and scenarios.
GG 21: Thriving Arbitrum Summer (Arbitrum Chain)
This section aims to support the growth and development of the Arbitrum ecosystem, with a matching pool amount of 150,000 ARB, covering a total of 65 projects. Below are the recommended donation projects:
NiceNode is an open-source node operation platform that allows users to set up a node on their computer immediately without any technical knowledge. Compared to other node providers, NiceNode emphasizes simplicity and flexibility, supported by the Ethereum Foundation, Gitcoin Grants, CityDAO, and EthStaker.
Revoke.cash has been a staple project in recent Gitcoin donations, serving as a token authorization tool to protect wallets and applications. It allows users to manage token approvals in their wallets and clean up wallet authorizations, regularly revoking application permissions to enhance wallet security.
Umbra is a privacy transfer tool that allows users to receive and withdraw cryptocurrency through a registered relay station. It supports both single and batch transfers and is friendly to users looking to maintain wallet anonymity (avoiding collective witch hunts). It currently supports ETH mainnet, Arbitrum, Optimism, Gnosis Chain, Polygon, and Base networks.
DefiLlama needs no further introduction; it is a commonly used data monitoring and querying platform, and support is all that matters.
The dm 3 protocol is a messaging protocol for Web3, focusing on secure end-to-end encryption, decentralization, scalability, and interoperability. The dm 3 registry is based on ENS, meaning dm 3 profiles are added as text records to ENS names. It recently received funding from L1 public chain LUKSO's Wave 1.
GiveStation is a multi-chain donation earning grant protocol designed to incentivize users contributing to blockchain projects with token rewards to stimulate the Web3 ecosystem. Project teams can apply for project donations, and users can support innovation and collaboration through donations to receive token rewards.
ETH Daily is a news aggregator focused on Ethereum, providing daily summaries of important content through podcasts and newsletters, supported by Elon Musk's social application aggregator Firefly.
Blockscout is an open-source blockchain explorer that helps users perform deep searches, interact with contracts, and verify contracts on EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) blockchains. It currently supports on-chain transaction information queries for over 600 networks and recently completed a $3 million seed round financing led by 1kx.
TurtleShell is a Web3 security tool designed to detect malicious activities on protocols and prevent hacking by introducing on-chain firewalls. When abnormal activities occur, the TurtleShell firewall provides a series of protective measures, including transaction blocking, protocol pausing, fund freezing, or controlling fund withdrawals.
GG 21: Real World Builder (Celo Chain)
The Real World Builder program supports teams researching use cases for blockchain technology, aiming to positively impact physical communities and environments in areas such as financial inclusion, ecological credit, RWA, and DePIN. The matching pool amount is $75,000, covering a total of 37 projects. Below are the recommended donation projects for this round:
Glo Dollar is a stablecoin backed by fiat currency, used to fund public utilities, including poverty alleviation, decarbonization programs, and Web3 open-source initiatives. Users do not need to donate; simply purchasing Glo on-chain can fund public utilities. The circulating Glo earns returns by converting to USD or U.S. Treasury bonds (off-chain investment), and the returns will return to the chain as Glo. Users can choose supported projects with the earned Glo, and the donation page will share all transaction information.
Pretium is a payment platform focused on crypto in Africa, enabling individuals and businesses to make payments at merchant points, facilitating cross-border payments, and using crypto assets to settle other utility payments while solving payment issues for merchants in local currencies. It currently operates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa.
GG 21: Asia Round (Optimism Chain)
Asia is a crucial region for the mass adoption of crypto. The Asia Round primarily provides necessary funding and resources for Asian innovators, builders, and projects. The matching pool amount is 75,000 DAI, covering a total of 68 projects. Below are the recommended donation projects for this round:
Zuzalu City is a Web3 community platform based on Vitalik's "star" concept, supported by the Ethereum Community Fund.
CoindPay is a multi-chain DEX that currently supports 26+ EVM, Solana, and ICP chains, enabling cross-chain payments and collaborating with Coinbase Pay, Solana Pay, etc., to provide KYC technology, avoiding witch attacks and malicious transfers. All payments automatically flow into smart contracts like Compound and Lido.
Nextme is a cross-platform decentralized social economy network supporting 27+ EVM and Solana chains, focusing on the creator economy, similar to Farcaster integrated with PayPal's Venmo. The BETA version of the app has already attracted over 140,000 users.
DeFiHackLabs is a blockchain security research community dedicated to improving on-chain security ecosystems and talent cultivation, focusing on smart contract security, on-chain monitoring, user asset security, anti-money laundering, CTF, emergency response, and rescue operations.
Hey.xyz (formerly Lenster) is a decentralized, permissionless social media application supported by Lens Protocol, which is a decentralized social graph established by Aave.
MiniBridge is a zero-fee cross-chain application with advantages such as multi-chain support and fast confirmations, developed by the Chaineye team. Chaineye was an award-winning project at the 2023 Shanghai Ethereum Conference, receiving funding from Gitcoin, Optimism, and Arbitrum.
GG 21: Public Good in The Metaverse (Arbitrum Chain)
This round is dedicated to developing a truly decentralized Metaverse based on open standards and promoting the Metaverse as a public good through interoperable, open dApps and experiences. The matching pool amount is 350,000 ARB, covering a total of 5 projects. The recommended project is:
Pairwise is an open-source voting Dapp that creates AA wallets through Web2 login methods, connecting wallets to their existing OP mainnet addresses, which use ZK proofs to maintain their on-chain reputation. Voters create votes through AA wallets, verified by EAS.
GG 21: Climate Solutions Round (Arbitrum Chain)
This round aims to fund climate solution projects with real-world impact globally, with a matching pool amount of 125,000 USDGLO (the previously mentioned Glo Dollar stablecoin), covering a total of 71 projects, many of which have appeared in previous donation rounds. The recommended projects are:
GainForest is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting forest resources, utilizing existing AI algorithms to detect species and biodiversity. It collects forest data through drones based on a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) and aims to build the world's largest and most valuable forest drone image dataset, changing our understanding of Earth's biological resources and enhancing conservation. Additionally, the project provides sustainable income for these forest data collectors.
Litter Token is a "earn while collecting trash" application, where the project token LTK is used to reward users for collecting trash. Users can collect trash and provide photographic proof to claim LTK on the project's DC, which will be sent to their wallets and can be exchanged for USDC. After each trash collection, the project provides open-source images of the trash to verify user actions.
Solar Foundation is also a decentralized solar energy solution aimed at accelerating off-grid solar access for underserved communities in emerging markets, utilizing decentralized small solar devices to provide reliable and affordable electricity while reducing carbon emissions to protect the climate.
GG 21: OpenCivics Collaborative Research Round (Arbitrum Chain)
The OpenCivics Collaborative Research Round is dedicated to contributing key research to the public domain and sharing this content in collaboration with others directly with community organizers. The matching pool amount is 42,000 USDC, covering a total of 16 projects. The recommended projects are:
P2P Foundation is a network researching the impact of P2P technology and public facility-based infrastructure on various social fields. This platform can be seen as the Wikipedia of Web3, containing many authoritative and popular science content and publications. The platform also draws on Web2 mechanisms to produce research content in the Web3 field, including topics like crypto governance and crypto economics (PS: Sun Ge follows this platform's X account).
Stephen Reid is an interdisciplinary technology expert researching technological meta-modernism. This application primarily supports Stephen Reid's course research, where Reid invites experts from various fields to discuss topics related to AI, Web3, DAO, and technology communities.
GG 21: CollabTech Round (Arbitrum Chain)
This round focuses on the development of on-chain organizations, B2B SaaS, and the future of work, promoting projects related to identity and reputation, governance and decision-making, operations, community, and contributor tools. The matching pool amount is 30,000 USDC, covering a total of 29 projects. The recommended projects are:
ZKT Network is a compliance infrastructure for blockchain, supporting cross-chain compliant transactions. It simplifies the process of integrating regulatory standards into blockchain applications through ZK proofs and a set of developer tools, ensuring projects meet compliance without compromising privacy or decentralization.
Meet with Wallet is a Web3 remote meeting application that provides a Web2 user experience while adhering to Web3's decentralization and privacy principles. Similar to Calendly in Web3, this application connects through wallets, eliminating the need for email or phone registration. The meeting is only public during the meeting phase, while all agendas before the meeting are encrypted and viewable only by the host.
RnDAO is a research-led venture capital ecosystem supporting Web3 collaborative software startups, providing research support for early-stage projects and building collaborative technologies, such as organizational tools, community tools, and DAO operation and governance tools.
This round of CollabTech also includes several projects supported by RnDAO, such as Meet with Wallet.
GG 21: Web3 Grant Ecosystem (Arbitrum Chain)
This round focuses on promoting high-quality projects in the Web3 grant and news aggregation space, with a matching pool amount of 125,000 ARB, covering a total of 57 projects. The recommended projects are:
welcomeonchain is a Web3 data aggregation platform that gathers industry-related popular science sections, project information, KOL profiles, and tutorials on Web3 skills. Users can obtain the content they want by simply searching for relevant information. Currently, the platform collects and maintains information on 1,500 projects and has social attributes, allowing users to comment in any section.
CharmVerse is an on-chain grant management platform designed for developers, allowing projects to publish proposals, govern through community voting, or raise funds. Previously, CharmVerse completed a $3.8 million seed round financing, with investments from Spartan Group, Cultur 3, Red Building Capital, Opensea Ventures, Alliance DAO, Orange DAO, Builder Capital, POAP Ventures, and others.
GG 21: QuantumStake (Scroll)
This round is named after the applying project QuantumStake, with a matching pool amount of 100,000 USDC. QuantumStake is a staking platform. According to its official website, QuantumStake offers advantages such as advanced technology integration, scalability, user-friendly interface, community-driven development, and smart contract auditing.
Conclusion
The selection of the above projects was based on the support behind the projects, the current amount and number of donations received, social platform data, and the design and completeness of the websites. Many projects are not limited to a single round but have participated in multiple rounds of applications. Project recommendations are for reference only, and donations require DYOR.
