Share this article
Polymesh Offers $25M in Developer Grants to Kick-Start Security Token Projects
Proposals include building a cross-chain settlement engine and a finance-oriented block explorer.
By Ian Allison
Updated May 11, 2023, 6:22 p.m. Published Mar 8, 2022, 3:00 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Polymesh, a blockchain built specifically for regulated tokenized securities, has unveiled a grant program for developers backed by some 50 million of its native POLYX tokens, worth around $25 million in today’s money.
Polymesh chief Graeme Moore said the platform’s GitHub will contain a list of requests for proposals, but developers can submit their own ideas, too. The Polymesh grant program will foster developer firepower for things like a tokenized exchange, cross-chain settlement engine, wallet integrations and a finance-oriented block explorer.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Budding blockchains face a chicken-and-egg problem when it comes to getting an ecosystem of developers building on a new platform. Offering grants and incentive programs has been a successful strategy for layer 1, or base, blockchains like Avalanche, for instance, which announced a $180 million program last summer.
“People want to build infrastructure on Polymesh because it’s a blockchain built for regulated assets, but the amount of use cases and the amount of users is still admittedly in its early days,” said Moore in an interview. “So how do you solve that? You bootstrap it by incentivizing developers to build applications on the blockchain.”
Read more: Polymath to Launch Blockchain Built for Tokenized Stocks
The tokenized security space is now moving forward at pace, with banks and the like, whose interest was piqued back in 2017, now seeing hardened technology emerging with sufficient regulatory guardrails in place.
Polymesh is meant to support the trading of virtually any kind of physical or digital asset deemed a security, said Moore. That could include everything from traditional stocks to racehorses, artwork and commercial real estate.
“Our thesis at Polymesh is that all of the world’s financial securities will be on the blockchain at some point in time,” Moore said. “We’re at the forefront of building the base layer infrastructure so that these folks can build applications that meet their needs on top. It’s really just a matter of when, not if.”
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Deus X CEO Tim Grant: We aren't replacing finance; we're integrating it
The Deus X CEO discussed his journey into digital assets, the company's infrastructure-led growth strategy, and why his Consensus Hong Kong panel promises "real talk only."
What to know:
- Tim Grant entered crypto in 2015 after early exposure to Ripple and Coinbase, drawn by blockchain’s ability to improve traditional finance rather than replace it.
- Deus X combines investing and operating to build regulated digital finance infrastructure across payments, prime services, and institutional DeFi.
- Grant will be speaking at Consensus Hong Kong in February.
