BitMEX, Human Rights Foundation Award $150,000 To Bitcoin Developer Calvin Kim

BitMEX and the Human Rights Foundation have partnered to award Bitcoin Developer Calvin Kim $150,000 to further his work on Utreexo.

Bitcoin exchange and derivatives platform BitMEX has announced that it has renewed a developer grant awarded to Calvin Kim until June 2022, giving him an additional $100,000 one-year grant. BitMEX awarded Kim a $30,000 grant in August 2020.

The announcement also indicated that the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is granting Kim an additional $50,000 in bitcoin.

Kim was focused on prototyping an Utreexo Bitcoin full node, which can help users conduct the Initial Block Download 62% faster than through Bitcoin Core alone, according to recent BitMEX research.

“This year, with the financial support of BitMEX and the Human Rights Foundation, I intend to continue what I was doing last year and continue moving the Utreexo project to something a user can download and use,” Kim said, per the announcement. “I’m excited for the upcoming year of development for the Utreexo project and am confident that the project will have a positive impact on the Bitcoin ecosystem.”

BitMEX and HRF have been active in donating to Bitcoin development. BitMEX parent company 100x Group has donated $250,000 to Bitcoin Core maintainer Michael Ford (aka Fanquake). And the firm has previously given a $150,000 grant to Core developer Amiti Uttarwar.

HRF’s donation efforts have focused on supporting privacy development for Bitcoin.