About
Chaincode Labs is a Bitcoin research and development center based in New York City. We focus on the development of the bitcoin network and adjacent technologies. A critical part of our work is creating a space for those seeking a solid foundation with which to contribute to the bitcoin ecosystem.
Since 2016, our residency program has helped to train and develop the next generation of Bitcoin and Lightning protocol and application engineers. In the past few years, we have shifted our efforts to make bitcoin open source education more accessible by moving our programs online.
Start your career in bitcoin open source
If you aspire to have professional freedom, work on something that will impact the lives of countless people across the world, write code that will span generations, and collaborate with some of the most gifted devs to solve some of the hardest technical problems, then this program is for you.
Contributing to bitcoin open source software (₿OSS) can feel lonely and intimidating. This three-month program is designed to provide the professional feedback necessary to get you off of ₿OSS 0.
Chaincode curates each cohort, arranges curriculum, and provides ongoing support throughout the program. You will be expected to prep for a minimum of 10 hours per week. Outside of the first week, there are no scheduled calls. This program will be taught and mentored by ₿OSS contributors that have stood in your shoes. Throughout the week, there will be async chat discussions and support. If you are willing to do the work, we'll give you what you need to get to where you want to go.
Kick Start - 1 Month
A code heavy month of bitcoin and lightning
- Week 0: RPC Scavenger Hunt
- Week 1: Build a wallet
- Week 2: Wallet management
- Week 3: P2P & Mining
- Week 4: Lightning
The Rest - 2 Months
Build your proof of work
- Bring a proof of concept to life
- Explore the ₿OSS ecosystem
- Meet ₿OSS maintainers
- Choose a ₿OSS project and provide value
- Get coaching on the next step
Change your life
Start your career in bitcoin OSS
If you are serious about a career in Bitcoin and Lightning OSS, we strongly encourage you to apply. While a baseline level of code proficiency is required, we welcome all backgrounds and technical experiences. Participants will be expected to work in C++ or Rust regardless of prior experience. (If you don't know any of these languages, but are eager to learn, YOU SHOULD STILL APPLY. We'll give you the resources to level up!)
- As with all of our educational initiatives, there is NO COST associated with this program.
- Complete the application by DECEMBER 31, 2024.
- If you are a good fit, we'll ask you to complete an exercise.
- The program begins the week of January 13th and runs until April 11th, 2025.
2024 ₿OSS alum
Resources
Self Paced Seminars
Materials are available for anyone to use with readings and discussion questions on various Bitcoin and Lightning topics.
Onboarding to Bitcoin Core
Covering both the technical components such as, architecture, consensus, validation, the wallet, P2P, and script, and also introduces the under-documented social aspects like PR etiquette and the decentralized development process.
Bitcoin development philosophy
A guide for Bitcoin developers who already understand the basics of concepts and processes such as Proof-of-Work, block building, and the transaction life cycle, and who want to level up by gaining a deeper understanding of Bitcoin's design trade-offs and philosophy.
Rust for bitcoiners
Master the fundamentals of Rust and bitcoin. Start your journey to becoming a bitcoin rust contributor.