Crypto platform Rally commits $12M to third-party developers

The ecosystem is gaining momentum as demand for nonfungible tokens and blockchain-based social communities continue to grow.

Crypto-social platform Rally has earmarked $12 million for external developers to improve the functionality of the ecosystem, potentially setting the stage for new innovations that would benefit creators. 

The grants program will be distributed through RLY tokens, the native cryptocurrency of the Rally ecosystem, the company announced Friday. A community-elected developer council controls $5 million worth of RLY, giving it considerable sway over which types of bounties and rewards get distributed.

Prior to establishing the new program, Rally awarded third-party developer grants to Bonfire, MintGate and David Young, the creator of the PLAY coin, which is built on Rally.

Rally enables creators and artists to launch their own cryptocurrency and establish independent communities directly on the platform. When asked about what types of third-party development work the company would like to support, Rally vice president Stephanie Pereira said, “we are focused on what would benefit creators the most right now.” The first three recipients have added value in numerous ways, such as developing an airdrop protocol, integrating social tokens into web-based games and developing customized widgets.

Pereira singled out social tokens and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as two areas requiring more development work in the future. She explained:

“Social tokens and NFTs are still relatively in their infancy stage, but as more creators lean in and experiment, we’re seeing the need for countless new products and eager to partner with more developers.”

Related: Crypto social governance will lead to online freedom

The NFT market has exploded in popularity over the past year, becoming one of blockchain’s most popular use cases. NFT sales reached a whopping $10.7 billion in the third quarter, shattering all previous records, according to data from DappRadar.

Activity around social tokens is also on the rise. As Cointelegraph recently reported, social token infrastructure provider Roll recently concluded a $10 million Series A investment round with backing from IOSG Ventures, Huobi Ventures and others.