Motivation

The majority of Bitcoin mining pools get their templates from the same source and a large minority use the same custodian for their bitcoin and we think miners should be aware of these and other metrics occurring on-chain to better inform their mining decisions. Block Watcher is a project to build a suite of Bitcoin mining visualization tools in a user-friendly public facing dashboard, as well as be available to self-host and run off the user’s own node. Well informed people tend to make good decisions and Block Watcher will provide insight into which templates pools are passing out, possible censorship attempts, orphaned blocks, and much more.

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Scope:

One Project Manager position and one engineer position to fulfill the mission of The 256 Foundation, “Dismantle the proprietary mining empire to make Bitcoin and freedom tech accessible to anyone”. This grant proposal aims to secure funding for:

• One project manager to oversee and ensure mission adherence, timeliness, and execution.
• One engineer to develop the Block Watcher software.
• Block Watcher specifics: Fully open-source visualization tools for a range of on-chain observations.
• User-friendly public-facing dashboard.
• Supporting documentation and specifications.
• This project is fully open-source GPL licensed.
• Excluded from this proposal are sales, distribution, marketing, and customer technical support.

In summary, the Block Watcher project delivers an open-source visualization tool for displaying several on-chain observations, including but not limited to how much hashrate each pool has based on block finds, commonalities/differences between pool templates, potential censorship attempts, mempool transaction counts, fee rates, alternative transaction monitors, orphaned block, forks, various calculators, and more. Users will have the option to use the public-facing user-friendly dashboard or they can choose to self-host this software using their own node for input data. This project will give anyone the ability to watch the blockchain and better inform their mining decisions, hence the name Block Watcher. The open-source nature makes integrating it in a variety of ways possible; giving end-users complete control over all variables of their self-hosted environments.

Deliverables:

The deliverables from this grant are a user-friendly software package designed to provide a public-facing user-friendly dashboard with a self-hosted option. The dashboard will have several Bitcoin mining visualization tools. The deliverables will be produced within the allotted timeline and for the available budget, resulting in an open-source project that aligns with The 256 Foundation mission and benefits the public at large.

Timeline:

The timeline for this grant proposal is twelve months with the opportunity to extend the grant at the conclusion of each twelve month period, pending negotiations.

Materials:

Materials for this project’s initial release are included in the budget. Potential materials for the project may include but are not limited to various common mining rigs for testing and various other tools or software.

Team Members:

This proposal is for one project manager and one engineer.

Budget:

For security reasons, exact dollar amounts are kept confidential. This project budget covers fair-market compensation for one project manager as well as the materials, travel expenses, and living expenses for one engineer for twelve months. Funds are disbursed monthly in equal amounts. Within 30-days prior to the expiration of this grant, a renewal opportunity will open and be subject to review and negotiation.