# Polkadot fast grants closed: where to apply now

> Polkadot fast grants (the Fast-Grants bounty) closed on November 3, 2025, and the Open Source Developer Grants bounty ended. Where to apply now instead.

Last reviewed 2026-10-31. Dates are UTC.

Polkadot fast grants are closed. Polkadot Fast-Grants, a treasury bounty that paid up to $10,000 in DOT per application, stopped taking applications on November 3, 2025, and no restart had been announced as of October 2026. The larger Open Source Developer Grants bounty has closed too, so a direct OpenGov treasury referendum is now the main way to get Polkadot funding.

## Key takeaways

- Polkadot Fast-Grants closed its intake on November 3, 2025; its curators said they would finish reviewing existing proposals and milestones and then reassess, and its repository was last updated on December 30, 2025.
- The Polkadot Open Source Developer Grants bounty (#59, up to $30,000 in DOT) is closed; its final report of March 20, 2026 counted 59 proposals, 10 approved and $220,500 paid out.
- Web3 Foundation's general Grants Program stopped taking applications in January 2026 and now points builders to the Polkadot treasury.
- Most builder-facing Polkadot bounties, including Fast-Grants, Open Source Developer Grants, Games, UX and DeFi Infrastructure, closed between November 2025 and May 2026.
- The open routes are the Polkadot OpenGov Treasury, the Kusama OpenGov Treasury and the Web3 Foundation-funded Kusama Vision bounties.

## What happened to Polkadot Fast-Grants?

Polkadot Fast-Grants was a bounty funded by the Polkadot treasury and run by its own curators, offering up to $10,000 in DOT per application. It closed its application intake on November 3, 2025. The curators said they would finish reviewing the proposals and milestones already in progress and then reassess whether to continue.

The program's [GitHub repository](https://github.com/Polkadot-Fast-Grants/apply) was last updated on December 30, 2025, and no restart had been announced when we checked on October 2, 2026. Fast-Grants is listed as paused rather than ended because the curators left the door open, but there is nothing to apply to.

## Which other Polkadot grant programs closed?

Fast-Grants was one of several Polkadot funding routes that have closed. The table shows each one and when it stopped.

| Program | Grant size | Status | When |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Polkadot Fast-Grants | Up to $10K in DOT | Intake closed, may be reassessed | Nov 3, 2025 |
| Open Source Developer Grants (bounty #59) | Up to $30K in DOT | Closed, final report published | Mar 20, 2026 |
| Web3 Foundation Grants Program | Up to $10K, $30K or unlimited, by level | Closed to new applications | Jan 6, 2026 |
| Web3 Foundation Decentralized Futures | $20M plus 5M DOT program | Application period ended | Jun 30, 2024 |
| Games, UX and DeFi Infrastructure bounties | Not recorded | Closed | Nov 2025 to May 2026 |

### The Open Source Developer Grants bounty

This OpenGov bounty paid grants of up to $30,000 in DOT for open-source Polkadot work. According to its [final report](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PolkadotOpenSourceGrants/apply/master/final_report.md), published on GitHub on March 20, 2026, it received 59 proposals, approved 10 (worth $248,000), saw 8 completed and paid out $220,500 in total. Referendum 1871 wound it down in March 2026, and no successor bounty has been announced in its repositories.

### Web3 Foundation's programs

Web3 Foundation (W3F) discontinued its general Grants Program at the start of 2026; its GitHub README was marked closed on January 6, 2026. On March 5, 2026, W3F listed the program among initiatives that have concluded and pointed builders to Polkadot's on-chain treasury. W3F now funds a small number of strategic initiatives, such as Decentralized JAM, and helps review proposals in OpenGov. Our guide to [Web3 Foundation grants](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/web3-foundation-grants) covers that change in detail.

### Parachain programs

Two parachain programs closed as well. Moonbeam's treasury grants ended when the Moonbeam and Moonriver parachains stopped on July 31, 2026, as Moonbeam moved GLMR to Base. Astar's Unstoppable Community Grants were replaced in 2026 by a Strategic Staking Program that stakes treasury ASTR only on dApps already live on Astar and is explicitly not a grant.

## How to apply to the Polkadot OpenGov Treasury

The [Polkadot OpenGov Treasury](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/polkadot-opengov-treasury) is the main open route. DOT holders control the treasury, anyone with a Polkadot account can submit a spending referendum, and it passes or fails by public on-chain vote with no foundation or committee in between. Since March 12, 2026, new DOT issuance and slashes flow into a Dynamic Allocation Pool that funds the treasury.

You choose a track by the amount you ask for. A request the size of a Fast-Grant fits the Small Spender track.

| Track | Cap per referendum | About, in USD |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Small Tipper | 250 DOT | $300 |
| Big Tipper | 1,000 DOT | $1,200 |
| Small Spender | 10,000 DOT | $12,000 |
| Medium Spender | 100,000 DOT | $120,000 |
| Big Spender | 1,000,000 DOT | $1.2M |
| Treasurer | 10,000,000 DOT | $12M |

Dollar figures use about $1.20 per DOT, the late-September 2026 price; DOT moved between about $0.84 and $1.26 that month. The decision deposit ranges from 1 DOT on Small Tipper to 1,000 DOT on Treasurer.

### The referendum process

1. Post your draft on Polkassembly or Subsquare and leave it open for feedback for at least 7 days.
2. Create a preimage with the beneficiary, asset and amount, and submit it on the matching track.
3. Pay the track's decision deposit so the referendum can enter its decision period.
4. DOT holders vote for up to 28 days (7 days on tipper tracks), followed by a confirmation period.
5. Claim the approved spend at once or in scheduled tranches, in DOT, USDC or USDT.

Many recent requests have been rejected, so a detailed public draft and support from delegates before you go on-chain matter more than the form itself. Recent approved requests often schedule monthly stablecoin payouts; ParaSpell, for example, was approved for 12 payments of 4,800 USDC. Our estimate for the whole process is about 5 weeks. Our guides to [blockchain treasury funding](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/blockchain-treasury-funding) and [writing a DAO funding proposal](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/dao-funding-proposal) explain how to build that support.

## Kusama treasury and Vision bounties

The [Kusama OpenGov Treasury](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/kusama-opengov-treasury) works the same way with KSM. Its tracks run from 8.25 KSM (Small Tipper) to 333,333.33 KSM (Treasurer), and the Big Spender cap of 33,333 KSM, about $175,000 at $5.25 per KSM on October 1, 2026, is the practical ceiling for most project requests. Decision periods are 7 days on tipper tracks and 14 days on the others, plus up to 7 days of confirmation, and recent spends were paid in KSM.

The [Kusama Vision Bounties](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/kusama-vision-bounties) are a separate route funded by Web3 Foundation from a shared pool of 10M DOT. Three bounties, set up on Kusama in May 2026, fund zero-knowledge proofs, privacy-preserving proof of personhood, and art and social experiments on privacy. The art initiative typically funds up to $10,000 per project, paid in DOT on Kusama Asset Hub, and recipients need a verified identity on the Kusama People chain.

See every program we track for the ecosystem on [Polkadot grants](https://www.web3grant.com/ecosystems/polkadot).

## If you wanted a fast grant

Fast-Grants was built for small, quick requests. A treasury referendum has fixed waiting times instead: at least a week of public discussion and up to 28 days of voting on the spender tracks. If speed matters more than the chain, our guide to [fast Web3 grants](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/fast-web3-grants) covers programs with short decision times: 21 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory report or are estimated at 3 weeks or less to a decision. For the full list of programs that closed this year, see [Web3 grant programs closed or paused in 2026](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/web3-grant-programs-closed-2026).

## FAQ

### Are Polkadot Fast-Grants coming back?

No restart of Polkadot Fast-Grants had been announced as of October 2, 2026. The curators closed intake on November 3, 2025, said they would finish reviewing existing proposals and milestones, and then reassess whether to continue. The program's GitHub repository was last updated on December 30, 2025. Until the curators post a new call there, the program is closed.

### What replaced the Web3 Foundation grants program?

Nothing replaced the Web3 Foundation Grants Program with a similar open application. W3F closed it to new applications in January 2026 and pointed builders to the Polkadot OpenGov Treasury. W3F now funds a small number of strategic initiatives, such as Decentralized JAM, and funds the Kusama Vision bounties for zero-knowledge, proof of personhood and art projects.

### How much can I request from the Polkadot treasury?

The Polkadot treasury has no floor, and the cap depends on the track you choose, from 250 DOT on Small Tipper to 10,000,000 DOT on Treasurer. At about $1.20 per DOT in late September 2026, a Small Spender request of up to 10,000 DOT was worth about $12,000. Larger tracks need bigger deposits and have longer confirmation periods.

### Can the Polkadot treasury pay in stablecoins?

Yes. Polkadot treasury spends can be paid in DOT, USDC or USDT on Polkadot Asset Hub, and they can be scheduled as several payouts over time. Recent approved requests often use monthly stablecoin payments, such as ParaSpell's 12 payments of 4,800 USDC. The Kusama treasury, by contrast, paid recent spends in KSM.

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From web3grant: https://www.web3grant.com/guides/polkadot-fast-grants. Program details change often: confirm on each program's official site before applying.