This week we spoke with Kiba Gateaux, initiator of the Handshake Development Fund, a community run fund that supports open-source developers and creators in their mission to create a free and open internet on the decentralized web.
From Blockchain to Community
Kiba Gateaux is a bit of a Jack of all trades. From writing smart contracts and app development to business strategy and organization development, Kiba humbly refers to himself as a “lazy freelancer” as he contributes to several projects and works towards a better decentralized web. He even helped with Panvala’s original branding after meeting Niran while working at ConsenSys back in 2017! Last year, however, he began to explore Handshake, “a completely community-run decentralized blockchain built to dismantle ICANN’s monopoly on top-level domains (.com, .net, .org, .io).” Very much interested in this concept, Kiba also recognized that as a blockchain with no centralized foundation, it was up to the community to identify issues and carry out action. He identified a need for a a development fund that could support the handshake community and thus the Handshake Development Fund was born.
Handshake Development Fund
The idea behind the fund is to support community members that are “working to expand the ecosystem, build tools, create new use cases for personal top-level domains, and make onboarding and adoption easier for people new to Handshake.” Additionally, all projects have to be free, opens source, and follow the Handshake Community Guidelines to receive grants from the fund. The community is interested specifically in the following areas:
Core Handshake protocol
Development
Domain management tools
Wallets
Browser integrations
Auction tools
Educational content
Identity solutions
Community growth
Engage with Handshake
“I want to reiterate that we are entirely community oriented and community run—we go through a lot of different challenges because we don’t have a founding team there.” As Kiba acknowledged this reality, he wanted to ensure that the knowledge his community is acquiring by being fully decentralized is shared with the Panvala League community. Discord is Handshake’s community hub, and Kiba encouraged folks to check out their different projects (organized by channels) and head to their biweekly AMA (ask me anything) meetings where folks can come hang out, as questions, and hopefully learn something! You can also check out their Twitter, Telegram, and Clubhouse at $HNS Weekly.
We are so glad to have Kiba & the Handshake Development Fund as part of the Panvala League, and thank this community for their work in this space!