Welcome to the 2nd CL Web3 Grants newsletter of 2026!
The year has started with a clear market reset: February brought sharp volatility across crypto, with prices pulling back and sentiment shifting toward caution after a turbulent start to the year. Against this backdrop, funding conversations are becoming more pragmatic, with greater focus on sustainability, real usage, and where capital is actually driving outcomes. In this edition, we continue to surface high-quality grant opportunities while sharing signals from across the funding landscape to help builders navigate the cycle with clarity and context.
Here’s a fresh batch of funding opportunities for builders, researchers, and innovators in Web3:
Stacks Grants Program
Builder grants up to $50,000 and Getting Started Grants up to $10,000 to support teams growing the Bitcoin economy via Stacks.
Focus: ZK, Privacy & Security, Public Goods, Education, Sustainability, DAOs, Events, dApps
a16z Speedrun Alpha Fellowship
Fellowship for technical students and recent grads with access to funding, mentorship, and the a16z network.
Focus: Education, Infra, Dev Tooling, Data & Oracles, DePIN, Public Goods
ASI Accelerator Programme
Accelerator supporting teams building AI-driven and enterprise-grade infrastructure with mentorship and technical support.
Focus: AI, Infrastructure, Dev Tooling, Research, Social & Community
RGB Grants Program
Grants for developers and research teams contributing to RGB protocol infrastructure, tooling, and integrations.
Focus: Infra, Dev Tooling, ZK, Privacy & Security, Stablecoins, DeFi, Cross-Chain
Optimism Season 9 Grants
Ecosystem funding aligned with Season 9 governance priorities to strengthen the Superchain and OP Stack.
Focus: DeFi, Dev Tooling, NFTs, Gaming, Privacy & Security, Public Goods, DAOs
SafePal x Solana Builder Grant
Part of a $3M initiative supporting Solana ecosystem projects scaling products and infrastructure.
Focus: DeFi, Gaming, Stablecoins, Payments, Infra, Dev Tooling, DePIN
Sui DeFi Moonshots Program
Up to $500,000 for category-defining DeFi projects bringing new primitives and real onchain usage.
Focus: DeFi, Infrastructure, Dev Tooling
Ethereum Foundation PhD Fellowship Program
$24,000 stipend supporting Ethereum-related academic research across multiple disciplines.
Focus: Education, Research
XDC DeFi Accelerator
Accelerator offering mentorship and support for teams building DeFi and infrastructure solutions in the XDC ecosystem.
Focus: DeFi, Dev Tooling, Infrastructure
Pharos Incubator
Up to $10M fund backing projects across RWA, payments, and next-gen financial infrastructure.
Focus: RWAs, Payments, DeFi, Infrastructure
Digital Chamber State Network Microgrants
Microgrants supporting policy, education, and community initiatives advancing blockchain adoption.
Focus: Education, Community, Policy, Events
👉 Explore all active grants in the CL Web3 Grants Hub
🚀 Have a grant to share? Submit it here. Let’s keep building Web3 together!
When Protocol Sustainability Meets Treasury Strategy
A notable shift in funding strategy is coming directly from Ethereum itself. The Ethereum Foundation recently began staking around 70,000 ETH from its treasury, moving away from periodic token sales toward generating native yield to fund operations. The initiative started with an initial deposit and is expected to channel staking rewards back into protocol R&D, ecosystem development, and grants, effectively aligning the Foundation’s sustainability with the network’s performance. More broadly, it signals a maturation of crypto treasury management, where major ecosystem actors are increasingly treating staking as a long-term funding mechanism rather than relying on market liquidity.
As the first release of our new analytics layer, we analysed 165 blockchain and DLT projects funded under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. This analysis is especially useful if you’re:
→ a Web3 or crypto founder in Europe exploring funding
→ involved in designing or evaluating programmes
→ or trying to understand the EU funding model from the outside
👉 Full report & analytics: https://analytics.web3grants.co/eu-blockchain-grants
Plenty of excellent gatherings to meet other builders, show what you’re working on, and stay close to ecosystem trends.
ETHCC returns in Cannes 🇫🇷, 30 March-1 April 2026
Ethereum Community Conference is heading to the French Riviera, bringing together builders, researchers, and ecosystem leaders for one of the most important annual gatherings in Ethereum. We’ll be there, so if you’re planning to attend and want to talk grants, funding strategy, or the analytics layer, feel free to reach out and meet us on the ground!
Paris Blockchain Week — 24–28 March 2026
Major European conference covering infrastructure, regulation, AI x Web3, and institutional adoption.
TOKEN2049 Dubai — 29-30 April 2026
One of the largest global crypto events, gathering founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders to discuss market trends and capital flows.
DappCon Berlin — 16-17 June 2026
Developer-focused event centered on Ethereum tooling, research, and real-world applications.
Stay connected
Follow us on social media (Linkedin & X) for real-time updates on funding opportunities and more!
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