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Tether Launches Task-Based Developer Grants for On-Device AI and Self-Custody Payments

The program offers fixed bounties in USDT or Bitcoin to speed tools that cut out centralized intermediaries.

Overview

  • Tether, which launched the grants program Monday, set payouts at $1,500 to $4,000 per task with no total pool limit.
  • Funding targets four parts of its stack: QVAC for on-device AI, a Wallet Development Kit for embedded self-custody, MDK for Bitcoin mining, and Pears for peer-to-peer networking.
  • QVAC keeps model inference on the user’s device to protect data, building on the May 7 release of MedPsy models for medical use.
  • Grants pay in USDT or Bitcoin for specific milestones across core libraries, documentation, new applications, and research into decentralization and edge AI.
  • CEO Paolo Ardoino says the goal is to seed software that runs locally and holds value without external providers, extending Tether’s prior support for BTCPay Server and OpenSats.