New York-based cloud application Wireline has just announced a token sale with a difference. The company has opened applications for its open source developer fund, which it will use to invest in developers “crafting applications to power the next generation of the cloud”.

This is the first time that the funds generated through a token sale will be used to support open-source software development.

Global IT spend is fast approaching $1.5 trillion, which gives open source developers a big opportunity to gain a better share of enterprise IT budgets. So far, however, open source development has not had a platform that was able to properly support the needs of the IT enterprise market.

“Currently open source projects are underfunded and developers aren’t motivated to build new applications because maintaining them is a thankless task,” Lucas Geiger, CEO of Wireline, states. “We want to change that by creating an ecosystem that rewards developers, and helps enterprises gain leverage from the extended open source community.”

The company has created a full-service platform for enterprise ‘microservices’, ranging from design to deployment. The platform aims to bring together various services from across the web through its App Exchange marketplace – a place for apps and enterprises seeking to build solutions from multiple open source vendors to meet.

Wireline is looking to fund a broad range of apps, including frameworks and website tools, and will be accepting applications until 30 November.

Supporting longer-term sustainability

So why chose a token sale?

“Critical to the ongoing success of open source projects is developers having a financial stake in the platform. Using cryptocurrency as the currency of the marketplace is a way for us to ensure that developers receive benefits for holding tokens,” Geiger continues.

“For example, through the evaluation process WRL token-holders will be able to ask questions and comment on the proposals to signal the relative quality and value of an applicant’s services. This, in turn, will support the longer-term sustainability of the ecosystem we’re developing.”

The company is using the token sale to fund both its platform and the developer fund, although 80% of the funds raised will go to the later. Wireline is currently estimating that it will be able to commit $100,000 to around 30 projects to start with.

Participating projects will be paid in WRL tokens, Bitcoin and cash and will be publicly visible on the Ethereum blockchain.

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