The open-source movement has for a long time been a strong force in the tech world, bringing about many success stories such as Linux, VLC, and of course everyone’s favorite: Bitcoin.
But no method is flawless, and with all the advantages that come from open-source projects, there are also drawbacks. Namely that for the fundamentals of open-source projects to work, developers must donate a huge amount of time without compensation.
Although many altruistic developers have donated countless hours to their favorite projects, the reality is that people only have the means to give up so much of their time for free.
The FundRequest Solution
FundRequest is a decentralized platform where enterprises, organizations, and private individuals can request software developments from the open-source community.
In short, FundRequest is a decentralized marketplace which is to be used by open-sourced developers.
FundRequest’s vision is to foster a sense of collaboration by providing development teams with access to talent across the globe while incentivizing developers to push just a little more to support their favorite projects.
If you are in need of some help with software development, you can “request” a developer to work on any valid “issue” in a project’s Github.
All transactions are locked in via smart contract, and upon satisfactory completion of the issue, the predetermined amount will be sent to the Solver automatically.
FundRequest Platform Walkthrough
FundRequest has had a busy year, having successfully launched their platform in May and gained a listing on their first major exchange, CoinBene.
And they’re only getting started. FundRequest has big plans to integrate additional software and APIs into their user interface, bridging the gap between those who are crypto literate and the “average” user.
With their platform up and running, you can now fund your own request to help your open-sourced project.
This is a walkthrough showing the basic steps to fund your own issue.
Setting Up Your Request
If you are interested in getting an open-sourced developer to help you out on your project, first you must post the issue on your project’s Github account.
Once the issue has been posted on Github, it can easily be linked to the FundRequest platform.
Full documentation on this can be found in the Github help section.
For this example, I’ll be using an issue from the Chainlink Github.
After you have added your issue to your project, go to FundRequest and create an account. After a quick email confirmation, you will have your account made.
Once logged in, click on the “Get Started” button to create a request.
The first thing thing that you’ll be asked for is the Github issue URL. Add it to the form and fill out a description of why you are adding funding to this request.
Once you have clicked on “Continue to payment details,” you will have to add in the desired bounty for the request in addition to your desired payment method.
At the time of writing, projects can only be funded with FND tokens via the MetaMask wallet, but more payment options such as PayPal and credit cards are in the works for the coming months.
There are also future plans to offer other ERC-20 tokens up as bounties as well.
After successfully logging into your MetaMask, the platform automatically deducts the determined funds. Once the gas fee and transaction have been confirmed, your request is ready to be solved!
Github Integration
FundRequest has integrated their platform smoothly with Github. The user interface is excellent.
From the FundRequest platform, you are able to see all the info and details which are listed on the issue’s Github as well as include any other additional information.
Once the issue has been successfully funded on the platform, a comment automatically pops up on the issue’s Github, showing the world that there is a bounty waiting for them, if they are interested in taking on the project.
I was impressed with the ease with which the platforms worked together.
All information was automatically imported via Github, reducing any need for double work. In addition, once an issue has been successfully linked to the FundRequest platform, any updates on Github will automatically be reflected on FundRequest.
If you are interested in taking a look at the request I made for this walkthrough, it can be viewed here.
Claiming Your Reward
Claiming your reward is as simple as setting up a request. Since Github and FundRequest’s platforms are linked, the process has been smoothly automated.
To claim your reward, first you must provide your solution via Github.
After the pull request has been successfully integrated into the project’s code, the issue will automatically close in Github. Once this is done, you will be able to go to FundRequest’s platform to claim your reward.
For more information on this and all the other described processes, see FundRequest’s FAQ.
More Improvements To Come
Even more exciting news about FundRequest is their recent announcement to integrate Arkane Network into their platform.
The Arkane Network was developed with the intention of making crypto more accessible to users and more lucrative for developers and projects. The wallet’s ability to connect to several blockchains means that a user has a single source from which they can manage different tokens.
FundRequest looks to integrate useful technologies such as Arkane into their platform in the future, following what they refer to as the “Google model” — in other words, giving away useful technologies in the hopes of fostering platform adoption.
For more information on the Arkane Network and FundRequest integration, see: “FundRequest Is Launching Arkane Network, An Open Network For Building Decentralized Applications”.
Overall Experience
Signing up to the platform,and funding my Github issue was easy. The integrations worked great, and the whole process only took minutes.
For now, the main setback with FundRequest is that the platform’s options are limited.
You can only fund a project using MetaMask and FND tokens. Though many devs are crypto literate, there is still a sizable portion of the dev world who would rather pay with “traditional” payment methods.
In addition, FND is currently only being traded on a few exchanges (at the time of writing, CoinBene and IDEX). This puts another small hindrance between the platform and the user.
These are barriers to entry which the team is very aware of. However, seeing what FundRequest has accomplished in only a few months is nothing short of exciting, and I have no doubt that the ecosystem as a whole will continue to grow.
Looking Forward
FundRequest has achieved a significant amount of milestones in a very short amount of time. They have gone from their early 2018 ICO to having successfully launched a usable platform only a few months later.
Not only did they launch their platform in only a few months, but they already have a product that is fully usable.
But they haven’t stopped there. They are constantly improving on their work, releasing regular project updates (as seen on their blog), and are looking to make their platform more user friendly with the integration of technologies such as Arkane Network.
Based on their current track record for fast results, I see no reason why the platform shouldn’t continue moving forward at its current lightning pace. Integration of additional payment options are already underway, and FND is planned to be listed on additional exchanges in the future.
FundRequest is without a doubt a diamond in the rough. Today, only 36 of the top 100 projects on Coinmarketcap have a working product, showing how so much of crypto is built up on nothing more than hype and expectations.
At the time of writing, FundRequest is currently sitting outside the top 1,000 on Coinmarketcap, showing that the market has yet to discover this project’s potential. But with thousands of useless projects out there, it is only a matter to time until the the good projects rise to the surface and get the attention they deserve.
This one is worth keeping your eye on.
For further reading on FundRequest, see: “What Is FundRequest (FND)?” and “FundRequest Launches A Blockchain-Powered Marketplace For Funding Open-Source Development”.
