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About Spiral
Spiral is an independent bitcoin-focused entity under Block, funding open-source projects to improve bitcoin's privacy, security, scalability, and user experience. Its core business centers on the Lightning Network, aiming to make bitcoin payments more efficient. The main pain point it addresses is the lack of sustainable funding for bitcoin developers, who often rely on short-term grants and face job insecurity. Spiral provides both direct employment and grants, with over 100 projects funded to date. In the past six months, Spiral has expanded into AI by incorporating core developers from Block's Goose project, planning to develop Goose into a platform for agentic AI. A notable concern is the concentration of funding sources—Spiral's budget comes entirely from Block, raising questions about long-term sustainability and independence.
Founded in 2019 as a Block initiative for the public good, Spiral focused on open-source Bitcoin development, funding independent contributors and incubating key projects such as the Lightning Development Kit (LDK) and Bitcoin Development Kit (BDK), which helped build foundational Bitcoin infrastructure.
In May 2026, Spiral and Block launched Loupe, an AI-powered vulnerability scanning service for open-source Bitcoin projects. It provides free scanning-as-a-service, responsibly discloses vulnerabilities, and assists maintainers with fixes, initially applied to projects including Bitcoin Core. Loupe aims to reduce the security asymmetry between attackers and maintainers, strengthening the long-term security of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Co-founders and key executives:
- Elena Zhizhimontova: Co-Founder & CEO
- Kyle Louis Fletcher: Founding Designer
- Steve Lee: Lead