Blog

Quarterly Update Q1 and Q2 2024
Jul 11, 2024

Quarterly Update Q1 and Q2 2024

Perhaps our best Spiral newsletter ever, this extremely late post covers all the bases: weather-induced spirituality, cosmic Jerome Powells, and, most importantly, the phrase “senior technical fungus.”

Quarterly Update Q4 2023
Nov 16, 2023

Quarterly Update Q4 2023

This quarterly update is all about breaking records. Not only is it the latest update we’ve ever published, it also contains the most words and most links of any Spiral blog post. Thanks to the latter, parts of it are almost illegible.

Making Bitcoin Funnier, Friendlier, and More Accessible
Oct 18, 2023

Making Bitcoin Funnier, Friendlier, and More Accessible

For bitcoin to become the planet’s preferred currency, educational content must entice the average person. It needs to reach people where they’re at and perform well on social platforms beyond Twitter and Nostr. While there’s a great deal of content out there, a lot of it is somewhat technical, too long for short attention spans, or lacking the creative flair that makes marketing palatable.

Quarterly Update Q3 2023
Jul 27, 2023

Quarterly Update Q3 2023

This quarter’s newsletter was delayed by a number of factors, one of which was last seen wandering the streets of New York between July 14–17. Even if you don’t know what we’re talking about, for once, we do. And you will.

Spiral is Hiring Bitcoin Wizards
Apr 24, 2023

Spiral is Hiring Bitcoin Wizards

Spiral is hiring bitcoin “wizards,” though we will settle for bitcoin mages, sorcerers and sorceresses, witches, warlocks, and druids.

Quarterly Update Q2 2023
Apr 11, 2023

Quarterly Update Q2 2023

The quarterly blog post bitcoin deserves and needs right now.

Quarterly Update Q1 2023
Jan 12, 2023

Quarterly Update Q1 2023

It’s just like every Spiral quarterly update, except this one includes swearing.

Quarterly Update Q4 2022
Oct 6, 2022

Quarterly Update Q4 2022

This quarterly update has got it all: LDK, BDK, Taproot, Summer of Bitcoin, Designathons, Hackathons, grantee spotlights, our TABConf schedule, a high-concept introduction that I’m amazed didn’t get shot down, and more.

Quarterly Update Q3 2022
Jul 13, 2022

Quarterly Update Q3 2022

Welp, we’re doing another one of these, which means we’ll keep doing them every quarter until the man shuts us down or I pack it all in to go work on a weasel farm.

A Framework for Sustainable Open-Source Bitcoin Development
May 10, 2022

A Framework for Sustainable Open-Source Bitcoin Development

Much of what we do at Spiral aims to support FOSS (free and open-source software) bitcoin developers and designers. Our grant program currently funds over two dozen developers and designers across more than 18 countries—the largest bitcoin fund of its kind. These individuals are helping make bitcoin the world's preferred currency by tackling a range of projects from Bitcoin Core and Lightning to general UX improvements.

Quarterly Update Q2 2022
Apr 4, 2022

Quarterly Update Q2 2022

We have a lot going on, and tweets weren’t cutting it. So here’s a new kind of update that we’ll be releasing quarterly to cover what we’re working on, where we’re speaking, who we’re funding, etc.

We were Square Crypto. Now we’re Spiral.
Dec 1, 2021

We were Square Crypto. Now we’re Spiral.

Once Square decided to rebrand, we knew it was time for our own long-overdue rebrand. After all, Square Crypto was never the best name for our team.

Square Crypto Designer Grants
Jun 24, 2020

Square Crypto Designer Grants

To foster a greater and more engaged bitcoin design community, we are expanding our existing grant program to designers. Initial grants will last 6 months. Our hope is that all grant recipients will serve as stewards for the growing bitcoin design community.

Bringing Together the Bitcoin Design Community
Jun 23, 2020

Bringing Together the Bitcoin Design Community

Great design is essential to the adoption of new technologies. That’s what made it one of Square Crypto’s earliest considerations.

Square Crypto Grants for Everybody
Mar 4, 2020

Square Crypto Grants for Everybody

We support bitcoin by building developer toolkits, contributing to the Lightning Network and Bitcoin Core, and supplying grants that free up developers to work on bitcoin in their own way. To date, we’ve supplied grants to BTCPayServer and ZmnSCPxj. Today we’re awarding two more to Jon Atack and Tankred Hase, in addition to providing steps that could help your bitcoin project get funded by us.

What We’re Building: Lightning Development Kit
Jan 21, 2020

What We’re Building: Lightning Development Kit

For bitcoin to become a widely used global currency — one that can’t be stopped, tampered with, or rigged in anyone’s favor — improvements to bitcoin’s UX, security, privacy, and scaling are required.

Grant #1: BTCPay Server
Sep 14, 2019

Grant #1: BTCPay Server

Square Crypto was founded to improve and promote bitcoin, both through our own work and by supporting the work of others. In that spirit, today we’re announcing the first of what will be many grants to support open-source bitcoin projects.

Designing Bitcoin for Everyone
Jul 15, 2019

Designing Bitcoin for Everyone

Bitcoin has demonstrated incredible resilience in its first 10 years largely due to its sophisticated technical design and passionate community. However, for Bitcoin to eventually become a daily-use currency with widespread adoption, there is a need to significantly improve the user experience, as echoed by Jack Dorsey when he announced Square Crypto.