The state of web3 bounties in 2023

LayerX
7 min readNov 18, 2022

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As web3 continues to grow in 2023 and beyond, we can expect to see new iterations of bounty networks and more tools emerging to support developers, designers, marketers, and all other contributors to the web3 community.

Many bounty platforms are dedicated to bug bounties, but there’s a lot more you can do through bounty networks.

In this article, we’ll go over the best web3 bounty platforms and provide an overview of the state of bounties and what you can expect in the near future.

How does a bounty platform work?

The exact details of web3 bounty programs can vary depending on the platform or project offering the bounty. Generally, web3 bounties work by providing contributors with access to web3 projects in need of their expertise.

Contributors will then use this access to identify and fix any bugs or build features within the web3 project and receive a reward once their work has been verified by the project management team.

Some web3 bounty programs offer financial incentives for bug bounties, while others may focus on more creative rewards like public recognition or early access to web3 products or services.

Regardless of the type of reward, web3 bounties are a great way for web3 developers to get involved in the web3 community and earn extra income.

Whether you are a web3 developer looking for new challenges or simply want to support open-source projects, web3 bounty platforms are the perfect place to start.

Bepro Network

Bepro Network is a bounty network created to help organizations manage their decentralized development. We simplified the process of launching multiple development bounties, managing disputes, and rewarding collaboration.

Unlike other platforms, Bepro Network focuses entirely on web3 developer bounties. The bounty network operates with three main stakeholders: bounty promoters, who launch bounties; developers, who solve those bounties; and curators, tasked with reviewing and validating the submissions from devs.

A simple crypto payment process

One of the main problems with bounties today is related to payments — often done manually, can take weeks or months to be validated and processed, and ultimately consumes time and energy.

Bepro Network has solved this problem through its robust, yet simple infrastructure to manage crypto payments. Bounty promoters can pay in USDT, ETH or another ERC-20 token and developers receive the amount once the bounty is solved and validated.

Learn more about the benefits of a bounty network

More than open-source development

A bounty network does more than just solve security bugs or build new features for a project. It can also act as an assessment and hiring tool to help DAOs find real talent based on the submissions received.

Utilizing a bounty, instead of a variety of tools like Google Forms or Notion, allows you to launch a real challenge, review submissions (or delegate them), and find candidates that fit the role you’re looking for.

Developers who complete the work, on the other hand, also receive certification through an NFT and are able to build rapport within the community, as well as build a tailored portfolio based on the projects they contributed to.

Explore bounties

Validate and submit code directly on Github

Bepro Network operates as a payment and curation layer for GitHub repositories. The protocol requires GitHub in order to function and manage pull requests, issues, and branches.

Having over 90 million active users, Github has become the go-to platform for devs worldwide. By integrating with GitHub, Bepro Network offers developers and project owners a seamless experience.

The decentralized framework is delivered by the following 3 main components:

  • Github Bot — That connects to all the Github repositories and manages integration between the protocol and promoter repositories.
  • Web Application — To allow the bounty promoters to open bounties, lock tokens to be curators on the protocol, manage disputes, and reward distributions.
  • Bepro Protocol — A smart contract deployed on the bounty promoter EVM where all the dispute/settlement infrastructures are executed.

What’s it meant for?

✅ Integrated crypto payment system
✅ Best suited for DAOs looking to decentralize development and build a dev community
✅ Platform tailored for web3 developers
✅ Suited for generating new ideas, products, features, and accelerating development

Gitcoin bounties

Gitcoin is a place for contributors to get paid for their open-source work. Users can submit their own project ideas to the Gitcoin platform in order to crowdsource funding from contributing donors.

The open-source platform is mainly focused on its grants program, but also has a bounty system and other products such as identity verification.

The bounty platform is mainly targeted toward designers and developers and pays out in ETH or other ERC-20 tokens.

Bounty funders can choose one of three different project types: Traditional project, where one worker is selected and paid; Cooperative project, which allows multiple workers to work on a bounty and get paid; and lastly, Contest project, where multiple entries are allowed, but ultimately only one contributor is paid.

Overall, Gitcoin is a platform that aims to support the creation of relevant open-source projects through grants, bounties, and other web3 products.

What’s it meant for?

✅ Great for projects searching for funding (Grant system)
✅ Suited for web3 developers

Dework

Dework brands itself as the “task manager for DAOs and decentralized work”. On the platform, DAOs can create bounties for contributors in fields such as marketing, design, and other business-related areas.

Contributors can build their web3 profile on the site and be paid with DAO tokens. Dework mainly functions as a project management tool, similar to Trello, for example.

Some of its core features are allowing DAOs to let their communities vote, create bounties, track progress, and pay out contributors with ease. Individual contributor profiles show completed tasks, compensation history, what DAOs they’re involved in, and which roles they have.

What’s it meant for?

✅ Web3 task management tool
✅ Offers a wide array of bounty types (marketing, design, and other related fields)

Layer3

Layer3 is a platform that allows users to get involved with web3 by participating in various bounties. These rewards can be earned in the form of NFTs, cryptocurrency, and XP.

The bounty platform targets different business areas, such as design, marketing, social media, and other types of bounties, and it’s split into three main sections: bounties, which offer “exp points” for completing specific default tasks; contests, in which you compete against other contributors; and communities, the place where you can find bounties submitted by other projects and DAOs.

What’s it meant for?

✅ Beginners searching for a gamified platform system
✅ Offers a wide array of bounty types (marketing, design, and other related fields)

Wonderverse

Wonderverse is a project management tool designed for DAOs that are building for Web3 and crypto.

The platform focuses on managing projects not only for individuals but also for small teams (pods) that work closely together. Additionally, DAOs can use the site to publish tasks related to bounties, track progress, and quantify contributions.

Rather than using Web2 tools that don’t work well for crypto projects, Wonderverse allows users and DAOs to integrate crypto into their project management seamlessly.

What’s it meant for?

✅ DAOs looking for a web3 project management tool
✅ Bounty integration and progress tracking

Final Thoughts

Currently, bug bounty platforms are the most popular type of platform available. However, we predict that bounty platforms will become even more widespread in 2023 as different types of contributors use them and the technology gets better.

Bepro Network is the perfect platform for web3 developers looking to earn money and contribute to their favorite projects, as well as DAOs interested in building new features with support from the community.

If you’re a marketer or designer Layer3 will provide different solutions that fit your business-related needs.

Gitcoin can be a great choice if you’re looking for funding to start a new web3 project.

However, if you’re searching for a project management tool, Dework and Wonderverse are also options worth considering.

Ultimately, each web3 bounty platform has its own unique twist which is part of what makes this space so interesting to us. We can all work together to build and grow the ecosystem, and these platforms are leading the way.

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LayerX
LayerX

Written by LayerX

Building next-generation web3 products. We are a builder hub that connects developers and organizations through hackathons and bounties.