According to CoinDesk, a new grants program inspired by Zuzalu, the two-month invite-only gathering initiated by Ethereum blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin last year in Montenegro, aims to foster spinoff events known as 'Zu-villages.' The program's goal is to continue the 'growth of the pop-up city movement' and 'support technology-driven projects,' as stated in a post on Gitcoin, a blockchain-focused crowdfunding platform for open-source software projects that has previously received funding from Buterin. During the first quarter of 2024, 250 ETH (approximately $590,000) will be available for distribution to participants as part of a matching program.
The grants program runs from January 15 to February 15. To qualify for these matched funds, teams must have one member who was invited to Zuzalu last year and participated in it for at least a week. It is unclear whether Zuzalu will take place again this year, and if so, when and where. To qualify for grants in the first quarter of 2024, the program is divided into two rounds: an events round with a 166.5 ETH matching pool and a technology round with an 83.5 ETH matching pool. According to the blog post, there will be one program per quarter in Q1 and Q2 this year.
Buterin is contributing a 'substantial amount' of ether (ETH) tokens to this grant program, according to an email sent to CoinDesk by a Gitcoin representative. However, the representative later clarified in a Telegram message that there is no record of Vitalik committing funds and that it was a misinterpretation on their part. They added that 'my understanding is that he’s involved but I don’t actually know if he personally provided the matching funds.' The amount of ETH was not specified in the original email. Zuzalu, co-created by Buterin, had an atmosphere representing a glorified camp, with discussions on blockchain-focused topics like cryptography, tracks on longevity, daily 'cold plunges' in the Adriatic Sea, and dinner-dances in the evening. The event, attended by around 200 people, remained somewhat of a mystery to the wider crypto community and was not widely publicized.
