Frequently asked questions

POTLOCK (spelled P-O-T-L-O-C-K) is the open funding stack for crypto grants and public goods. Founders, projects, non-profits, and open source contributors use POTLOCK to raise funds, run campaigns, accept donations in multiple cryptocurrencies, and run or participate in grant rounds on NEAR and multi-chain.

Create a campaign at app.potlock.org to raise funds. POTLOCK lets you accept donations on EVM chains (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, etc.), Bitcoin and forks, and Layer 1 chains (NEAR, Solana, Sui, and more)—see donate by chain for each network. You can also apply to funding rounds (pots) for matching funds and embed a donation widget on your site.

Yes. POTLOCK is an open funding stack: the protocol and smart contracts are open source (MIT). You can fork the stack, run your own funding rounds (pots), and use the API and widgets to build custom donation flows. Many ecosystems and blockchain foundations use POTLOCK to run their own grant rounds.

Register your project on POTLOCK and create a campaign, or apply to funding rounds (pots) that support open source. POTLOCK runs quadratic funding rounds for OSS and public goods where small donations are matched. You can also accept direct crypto donations and stablecoins from sponsors and the community.

Use POTLOCK campaigns and funding rounds (pots) to surface your project to donors and ecosystem funders. Create a campaign at app.potlock.org, share your link, and apply to relevant pots (e.g. open source, AI, ecosystem). Donors can discover you via the app and donate in NEAR, ETH, SOL, BTC, or stablecoins—see donate by chain.

Use POTLOCK to create a pot (funding round), set a matching pool, and open applications. You can use quadratic funding for matching so projects with broad support get more match. See planning a pot, chef training, and understanding pots and funding rounds. View existing rounds at app.potlock.org/pots.

Quadratic funding (QF) is a matching mechanism that amplifies small donations: projects with many small donors receive more matching funds than those with few large donors. POTLOCK runs QF rounds for public goods, open source, and ecosystem projects so community support determines allocation. See quadratic funding and matched donations through a pot.

Yes. POTLOCK supports multi-chain donations including stablecoins across EVM chains, Bitcoin and forks, and Layer 1 chains (NEAR, Solana, Sui, and more). See the donate-by-chain guides for each network. On NEAR, POTLOCK supports donations in any fungible token—not only stablecoins—so donors can give in NEAR, wrapped assets, or other NEP-141 tokens. Campaign and round operators can receive and distribute funds accordingly.

POTLOCK supports EVM chains (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Optimism, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and more), Bitcoin and forks (Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Zcash, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin), and Layer 1 chains (NEAR, Solana, Sui, Stellar, TON, Tron, XRP, Starknet, Cardano, Aleo). Each chain has a step-by-step donate-by-chain guide; see the supported networks section on this page for the full list.

Yes. Non-profits, blockchain foundations, and ecosystem operators use POTLOCK to run grant rounds, fund public goods, and accept crypto donations. Projects and donors use the same stack for transparent, on-chain funding and giving.

Go to app.potlock.org to browse campaigns and funding rounds. You can donate directly to a project or use the donate-by-chain guides (NEAR, Solana, Sui, and more). Donations in QF rounds are matched to maximize impact per dollar.

The Open Funding Stack is POTLOCK's composable set of primitives: campaigns, pots (funding rounds), quadratic funding, direct donations, identity, and distribution. It is open source so anyone can build donation platforms, run rounds, or integrate funding into their product.

AI-PGF (AI Public Goods Funding) is a research initiative for funding AI and public goods. POTLOCK supports AI-PGF and runs quadratic funding rounds for AI and open-source projects. It is part of the broader POTLOCK ecosystem.

POTLOCK is built on NEAR Protocol and is the open funding stack for the NEAR ecosystem. It supports EVM chains, Bitcoin and forks, and Layer 1 chains (Solana, Sui, Stellar, TON, Tron, XRP, Starknet, Cardano, Aleo, and more) so donors can give from one interface.

Foundations and ecosystems use POTLOCK to run their own grant rounds (pots), set matching pools, and fund projects with quadratic funding or custom mechanisms. They operate as chefs on the protocol and can accept any supported crypto and stablecoins for their rounds.