Avalanche Unveils $40M Grant for L1 Developers

Avalanche Launches $40M Grant Program for Layer-1 Developers

Avalanche (AVAX) has unveiled a new $40 million grant program aimed at supporting developers building on the blockchain’s mainnet. This initiative, called ‘Retro9000,’ was introduced by the Avalanche Foundation on September 26 and is set to boost the growth of the ecosystem.

Retro9000: Incentivizing Layer-1 Development

The Retro9000 program is a retroactive rewards initiative designed to encourage developers to contribute to the Avalanche platform. It focuses on developers building and deploying layer-1 chains on the Avalanche mainnet, offering significant incentives for their contributions.

Avalanche9000 Upgrade: Lowering Costs for L1 Deployment

The Retro9000 program is part of the broader ‘Avalanche9000’ upgrade, which aims to reduce the costs associated with deploying and maintaining layer-1 blockchains on the mainnet. This upgrade makes it more economically feasible for projects to launch on the growing subnets ecosystem. According to Martin Eckardt, Director of Developer Relations at Ava Labs:

“L1 validators will no longer have to stake high amounts of AVAX for entry, giving thousands of projects access to a custom, interoperable blockchain built on a battle-tested tech stack at a low cost.”

Goals of the Retro9000 Program

Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo, Chief Operating Officer at Ava Labs, emphasized that the grant program aims to bootstrap Avalanche’s layer-1 ecosystem. The Retro9000 program encourages developers to:

• Build projects publicly to gain community support.
• Test products before launch to ensure functionality.
• Earn rewards as incentives for ecosystem growth.

Avalanche’s Expanding DeFi Ecosystem

Avalanche’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has been thriving, thanks to initiatives like the BOOST program. Key partners include:

• Aave (AAVE)
• Benqi Finance
• Delta Prime
• GMX

Additionally, the Avalanche network is set to benefit from the integration of SolvBTC, a yield-bearing Bitcoin (BTC) token. SolvBTC is currently available on Ethereum (ETH) and other chains, with its introduction to Avalanche set to bring decentralized Bitcoin reserves to the ecosystem. Users can now earn staking rewards on their Bitcoin holdings within the Avalanche network.