The Tezos Foundation has announced the awarding of 14 new ecosystem grants on September 10, 2019, marking another significant step in its ongoing effort to build out the infrastructure and tooling surrounding the Tezos blockchain. The grants, awarded through the Foundation’s most recent Request for Proposals (RFP), cover a diverse range of projects spanning smart contract development tools, block explorers, educational resources, and community-driven initiatives.
TL;DR
- The Tezos Foundation awarded 14 new ecosystem grants on September 10, 2019
- Grants target smart contract applications, block explorers, developer tools, education, and marketing
- Key projects include Misualizer for smart contract visualization, TezBridge improvements, and ECAD Labs’ Signatory
- XTZ was trading at approximately $1.02, ranked 18th by market capitalization
- The next RFP period is set to open on September 18, 2019
Grant Categories and Project Highlights
The Tezos Foundation structured its RFP around five core areas: applications built using Tezos smart contracts, Tezos block explorers and innovative tools, tools for smart contract development, educational and training resources, and marketing initiatives to increase awareness of the Tezos ecosystem. The 14 selected projects reflect this breadth, targeting some of the most critical gaps in the Tezos development landscape.
Among the most technically ambitious projects is the creation of a formal semantics and reference implementation for Michelson — the smart contract language native to Tezos — within the K Framework. This effort aims to provide mathematically verified correctness guarantees for Tezos smart contracts, an advancement that could significantly enhance developer confidence in the platform’s formal verification capabilities, which have long been touted as one of Tezos’ key differentiators.
Developer Tools and Infrastructure
Several of the newly funded projects focus on improving the developer experience. Catsigma, a well-known Tezos developer, received grants for two interconnected tools. Misualizer will enable users to visualize various execution scenarios of Tezos smart contracts, making it easier for developers to understand contract behavior before deployment. TezBridge, also developed by Catsigma, provides a user-friendly interface for interacting with the Tezos blockchain and will receive further enhancements under this grant cycle.
ECAD Labs received funding to develop Grafana and Signatory, tools designed to enable remote signing and rejection of operations. This infrastructure is particularly important for institutional participants and large token holders who require secure, remote management of their Tezos assets without exposing private keys to internet-connected devices.
Another practical tool being funded is an improved Telegram bot for monitoring Tezos blockchain activity, including transaction tracking, missing block endorsement alerts, and double-baking detection — critical functions for bakers (Tezos’ equivalent of validators) who need real-time operational monitoring.
Education and Community Building
The Tezos Foundation has consistently emphasized education as a pillar of its ecosystem strategy, and this grant cycle is no exception. Matthew Smith will write and publish a comprehensive book aimed at attracting new backers and developers to the Tezos platform. The book will be freely available and includes software for a remote signer, combining educational content with practical tooling.
Klas Harrysson, who created the Tezos.help website in 2017, received a grant to transform the resource into a comprehensive library of all Tezos ecosystem projects and tools. Originally designed as a help guide directory for newcomers, Tezos.help will evolve into a centralized hub assisting users across the entire ecosystem.
Additional educational projects include improvements to the Tezos online learning community, enhancements to documentation platforms, and updates to the TezBridge text manuals — all aimed at lowering the barrier to entry for new developers exploring the platform.
Market Context and Ecosystem Growth
At the time of the announcement, Tezos (XTZ) was trading at approximately $1.02 with a market capitalization of roughly $676 million, placing it 18th among all cryptocurrencies according to CoinMarketCap data from September 10, 2019. While the broader crypto market had been consolidating — with Bitcoin hovering around $10,116 and Ethereum at $179.79 — the Tezos Foundation’s continued investment in ecosystem development signals a long-term commitment that extends beyond short-term price movements.
The Foundation’s grant program operates on a rolling basis, with the next RFP period scheduled to open on September 18, 2019. This regular cadence of funding opportunities has helped Tezos maintain an active developer community even during market downturns, with funds being disbursed directly upon approval to minimize delays in project execution.
Why This Matters
The Tezos Foundation’s latest round of 14 grants demonstrates a structured, deliberate approach to ecosystem development that prioritizes both technical infrastructure and human capital. By funding tools for smart contract visualization, formal verification, remote signing, and developer education simultaneously, the Foundation is building the layers necessary for sustainable, long-term growth. In a market environment where many blockchain projects struggle to maintain developer engagement, Tezos’ systematic grant program — with its regular RFP cycles and transparent selection process — offers a model for how foundation-led ecosystems can foster genuine grassroots development rather than relying solely on speculative interest.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
XTZ at $1.02 ranked 18th. tezos really took the slow grind approach to building, gotta respect it even if the price action was boring
XTZ at $1.02 ranked 18th and they were funding real infrastructure. say what you want about tezos governance but the grant program shipped working tools
boring price action but they shipped. misualizer and signatory are still being used years later. slow and steady actually worked here
mute_button signatory became the standard baker tool because it solved a real problem. most grant programs fund research papers that never ship anything
signatory was the grant that actually mattered. ECAD Labs built the baker tooling the ecosystem ran on. the other 13 grants were mostly academic papers that went nowhere
misualizer was ahead of its time for smart contract visualization. most chains still dont have tooling that good in 2024
misualizer was genuinely better than anything on eth or solana for debugging. tezos built dev tools nobody else had and still got ignored by the market
misualizer was genuinely useful for debugging. most L1s in 2024 still dont have visualization tools half as good
TezBridge and Signatory were the two grants that actually shipped production tooling. most of the other 12 were research projects that never made it past a github proof of concept
grant_tracker_ Misualizer was actually useful for smart contract debugging. the problem was Tezos smart contract adoption was so low that debugging tools had no users
14 grants in 2019 and most became research papers not products. signatory and tezbridge were the only two that shipped real tooling
14 grants for block explorers and dev tools. the steady ecosystem play works if you have enough runway
XTZ at $1.02 ranked 18th during this grant round. the Tezos treasury model was genuinely innovative at the time even though the baking participation rate was underwhelming
XTZ at $1.02 and 18th by market cap. the baking model was genuinely innovative even if the price action made everyone fall asleep
XTZ at $1.02 ranked 18th and they were funding actual developer tooling. most top 10 projects at the time had nothing but whitepapers
14 grants and XTZ still at $1. The Tezos model of slow governance iterations was both its biggest strength and biggest marketing problem
14 grants and XTZ barely moved. the market rewards hype not fundamentals, has been that way since 2017
the market rewards hype is exactly right. XTZ went sideways for 2 years after these grants while chains with zero tooling pumped 100x on marketing alone
hype pays in the short term but tezos grants built stuff that lasted. signatory is still the go-to baker tool
signatory was so far ahead of other baker tools. agree with the steady approach working here even if price never reflected it
signatory was the first baker tool that actually worked reliably. ECAD Labs built infrastructure most L1s still lack in 2026
Lena V. signatory is still the go-to in 2026. every other baker tool that came after just copied its interface. ECAD Labs built the reference implementation
14 grants and Misualizer got funded but nobody ever shipped a working product. same Tezos playbook every cycle
XTZ at $1.02 back then feels like a different universe. held my bag from $1.40 all the way down, sold at break even years later lol
TezBridge was genuinely useful for devs but the UX never improved. Foundation kept funding tools nobody outside their bubble used