Bitcoin Developer Fund Brink Secures Tax-Exempt Status

Donations to the Brink open-source development fund are now tax-exempt for U.S. donors.

Founded and directed by Bitcoin Core contributor John Newbery, Brink provides grants to Bitcoin developers who work on its open-source tech stack. Now, it has secured 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service, meaning any U.S. taxpayer donating to the fund can receive a tax break.

Donors who have already made contributions can retroactively apply the tax break as well, Brink’s blog post reads.

“Brink was started with a simple mission: Strengthen Bitcoin by Supporting Bitcoin Developers. Critical to that mission is our ability to raise money to fund our grant and fellowship programs.

“Making the organization as tax efficient as possible ensures that donors’ funds are used to the maximum possible benefit of the mission ... Furthermore, donations of long-term appreciated assets like bitcoin generally don’t incur capital gains tax and can be claimed as an income tax deduction for the full fair-market value,” the blog post reads.

Brink applied for the exemption on the grounds that it is conducting research, providing education and funding public infrastructure (Bitcoin).

Launched in September of 2020, Brink has partnered with other primary players in the Bitcoin development grant space including Square Crypto, the Human Rights Organization, Kraken and Gemini. Brink’s first grant recipient, Bitcoin Core contributor Gloria Zhou, is working on optimizing how Bitcoin’s mempools (the global holding tanks for transactions) send and store data.

Brink is currently accepting applications for future grants.