Round 1 · announced May 28, 2026

Grant recipients & impact

The first distribution from the Clanker Ecosystem Fund — $72,000 awarded across 21 projects building, sustaining, and energizing the Clanker and Farcaster ecosystem.

Round 1 recap

$72,000

Awarded

Projects

May 28, 2026

Announced

AnnouncementRead the announcement

What the round funded

Builder

Teams and projects that consistently ship real value.

$21,000across 3 grants

Sustainability

Smaller community projects, tools, media, and culture.

$29,000across 15 grants

Fresh Clank

Newer projects with fresh ideas and early momentum.

$5,500across 3 grants

Activation

Sparks for events and short-term ecosystem initiatives.

$11,500across 11 grants

Plus $5,000 set aside for a June Creator Sprint — ten $500 grants for writers and short-form video creators making Clanker-related content.

Common threads

What we're hearing back from recipients and the community as impact reports come in.

Money that fans out further

Activation grants become many smaller rewards for the wider community. POIDH funded 15 social bounties, BETRMINT is putting its grant into Neon Clankerverse art-contest prizes, and the LOBBY ran free bets and World Cup brackets — turning single grants into broad participation.

Built to keep building

No-strings sustainability grants help proven projects cover operating costs and keep shipping — Farverse used its support to keep the lights on and put the finishing touches on the Farmverse game.

Fueling Farcaster culture

From world cup bounties to art contests, the activations are generating real creative energy.

Still building

Impact is a work in progress. Many activations are mid-flight — BETRMINT's art contest runs through July 1, /runner's leaderboard payouts are still in development — and we'll keep updating this page as they land.

Impact highlights

In recipients' own words — how Round 1 grants are being put to work.

@farverse.ethIn progress

by @mfbevan.eth

$2,000 Sustainability$500 Activation

“Just wanted to say thanks again for the grants that Farverse received. They have gone a long way already.”
— Matt (@mfbevan.eth)

Sustainability · $2,000

Helped Farverse keep the lights on and cover operating costs, and put the finishing touches on the Farmverse game — shipping it with fresh art and new features.

Activation · $500

More details coming — we're checking in with the team on how the activation grant is being put to work for the community.

@poidhbotOngoing

by @kenny

$1,000 Sustainability$500 Activation

Kenny pledged the $500 activation grant as twenty $25 boosts on Farcaster-aligned bounties — small sparks attached to much bigger prize pools — with 5 boosts still to give out. Unclaimed boosts are withdrawn and redeployed to other bounties, and the grant also freed Kenny up to fund other initiatives and pay devs for small tasks.

$375

deployed of $500

bounties paid out

still open

$6,250+

in open prizes

The bounties boosted so far

From the community

“from world cup bounties to technical and creativity ones, the cef-funded bounties have kept farcaster culture alive. … this is what fc culture is supposed to feel like.” 🫡

— @femmie

BETR with BurrOngoing

by @burr.eth and @plantsnft

$2,000 Sustainability$1,000 Activation

Now rebranded as the LOBBY (formerly BETR with Burr), the team shared a detailed breakdown of how its /cef grant is being put to work across games, community perks, predictions, and a World Cup Brackets activation:

$1,000BASED GAMES pt2: Revenge is best served BASED
A 2–3 week Farcaster event run with fellow CEF recipients $BETR, $mintedmerch, and /runner, spotlighting other games and mini-apps built on Farcaster.
$700Customer appreciation
Working with the @mintedmerch team to produce 40 packs of LOBBY-branded poker cards for 40 of their best and longest-term supporters.
$200Free bets at the LOBBY
Showcasing peer-to-peer predictions, a new LOBBY feature. The LOBBY takes zero fees, so anyone who wins a free bet keeps the full payout.
$100Poker tournaments
Funding special tournaments, including ones where players tune into /gmfarcaster for the passcode to enter.
$200World Cup Brackets + the LOBBY rebrand
Partnered again with $BETR and $mintedmerch to boost prizes across communities.

New features shipped

The team has also been shipping fast — upgrading the @burrintern bot to post winners, build-status updates, and arbitrage tickets, alongside new player tools:

New LOBBY features “Who am I rooting for” guide BETR GUESSER snap

@betrmintOngoing

by @toadyhawk.eth and @netnose

$8,000 Builder$2,000 Activation

BETRMINT is putting its $2,000 activation grant toward the Neon Clankerverse open art contest — inviting the community to create work that evokes both Clanker and BETR, with the full $2,000 going out as prizes.

🏆Top 3 entries — $200 in $BETR each
✨17 standout entries — featured on BETRMINT + $75 each

Entries are open through July 1, 2026. See the contest announcement

/runnerIn progress

by @darkoh.eth

$2,000 Sustainability$1,000 Activation

The activation grant is earmarked for leaderboard payouts at the end of seasons 1, 2, and 3. The app is still being built — testing was expected to start, but the team is waiting to hear back from a developer. @darkoh.eth will keep us posted on when it goes live.