The grants focus on: core libraries, documentation, applications and decentralization.
The program has no maximum funding limit and pays for specific tasks with defined deadlines.
Tether, the issuing company of the USDT stablecoin, announced the launch of a grant program to finance developers who build open technological infrastructure in artificial intelligence (AI) and self-custody wallets.
The program There is no limit on the total amount and focuses on specific technical deliverables. It is open to immediate requests. Grants are paid in USDT or Bitcoin and cover components such as wallet infrastructure, browser extensions, and e-commerce integrations.
Individual payments range currently between approximately $1,500 and $4,000, depending on tasks completed. The central axis of the program is to promote “local first” infrastructures in both artificial intelligence and payments.
The grants are organized into four main areas: development of core libraries for QVAC, MOS, WDK and Pears; creating onboarding documentation and resources; development of applications on Tether infrastructure; and research in decentralization, AI, peer-to-peer networks, cryptography, tools and integrations.
Each task has a fixed payment and a defined deadline. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, noted that the current infrastructure forces developers to choose between centralized platforms that control the product or incentives that reward data collection.
“If you can build something that works locally, holds value directly and doesn’t depend on outside vendors, we’ll fund it,” he said.
Today, most AI systems rely on cloud servers, resulting in latency, high costs, and privacy risks by sending data off-device. Therefore, the company aims to minimize dependency on trusted third parties.
Tether finances QVAC, a platform that runs directly on the device without external providers, as reported by CriptoNoticias. However, a similar dependency on the application layer persists in the cryptocurrency space. While moving assets on-chain is becoming easier, creating usable, intermediary-agnostic products remains complex.
The company also promotes its Wallet Development Kit (WDK), an open source framework that allows self-custodied wallets to be integrated directly into applications, managing keys and transactions locally in mobile, desktop and embedded environments.
This program adds to previous initiatives of Tether in open source, Bitcoin education and decentralization. The company has previously supported projects such as BTCPay Server Foundationdonations to OpenSats and its Plan ₿ in Lugano.
With this new grant program, Tether seeks to accelerate the creation of more private and resilient infrastructure, reducing dependence on centralized services. Interested developers can check out the available tasks and apply directly through tether.dev.