Today, we’re excited to award a grant to Martin Zumsande to work on open source Bitcoin protocol development. Martin’s grant is generously supported by Gemini.
About Martin
Martin is from Osnabrück, Germany. He’s been contributing to Bitcoin Core since early 2019, and in that time has reviewed over 50 PRs and had 15 PRs merged. He’s hosted Bitcoin Core review club 5 times, and has already become an expert on address relay in Bitcoin Core.
Martin will initially focus his efforts on reviewing and improving address relay in Bitcoin Core, a crucial function that protects Bitcoin nodes from being eclipsed by malicious third parties. He also intends to continue focusing on review and testing open pull requests.
In his spare time, Martin enjoys playing chess and competes as an International Master.
Update on July 14, 2026: This original announcement stated that Martin planned to join Brink’s London office as a fellow, however, he ended up undertaking this grant-funded project in his home country of Germany.
About Gemini
Gemini is a platform that allows customers to buy, sell, store, and earn cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, and DeFi tokens. Gemini’s simple, reliable, and secure products are built to empower the individual. Gemini was founded in 2014 by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
The Gemini Opportunity Fund is a fund focused on making Bitcoin more scalable, secure, and sustainable through grants, fellowships, and donations. The fund will support a range of individuals, foundations, nonprofits, and projects that we believe will help to ensure the continued success of the Bitcoin Network.
About Brink
Brink is a Bitcoin research and development centre, founded in 2020 to support independent open source protocol developers and mentor new contributors. Find out more about our grants and fellowship programs, and how to support us.
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