Tether is expanding its open-source funding efforts with new grants for decentralised wallet, payment, and local-first AI developers building independent infrastructure without centralised intermediaries.
Tether has launched a new grants initiative aimed at developers building open-source wallet, payment, decentralised infrastructure, and local-first AI tools on its open technology stack. The programme focuses on software designed to operate independently without relying on custodians, exchanges, cloud infrastructure, or external APIs.
A major part of the initiative centres on Tether’s open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK), which enables developers to embed self-custodial wallets directly into mobile, desktop, and embedded applications. The toolkit allows users to manage keys locally, sign transactions, and transfer funds without custodial intermediaries while integrating payments directly into applications.
The initiative is also tied closely to Tether’s QVAC platform, an on-device AI system that processes data locally instead of relying on cloud-based infrastructure. Tether said the approach helps reduce dependence on third-party systems while supporting local-first AI execution.
Grants will support wallet tools, browser extensions, AI applications, peer-to-peer networking, cryptography research, infrastructure tooling, integrations, and open standards. Funding will be distributed as task-based payouts ranging from $1,500 to $4,000, paid in Bitcoin or USDT.
“We’re taking a different approach. If you can build something that runs locally, holds value directly, and doesn’t rely on external providers, we’ll fund it. That’s how you get real systems into the market,” said Paolo Ardoino.
The programme expands Tether’s broader open-source and Bitcoin-focused funding efforts, including previous grants to the BTCPay Server Foundation and donations to OpenSats.
