The Future of Public Goods Funding in Filecoin: Scaling the PL PGF Vision

Public goods have always been the invisible scaffolding of open-source networks. From storage provider-client implementations to protocol research, documentation, and developer tooling - much of what keeps blockchains running is non-excludable and non-rivalrous. This makes it difficult to sustain through traditional market incentives, often leaving critical contributions underfunded or invisible.

In the Protocol Labs Network (PLN), we’ve been asking a simple question with complex implications: How do we ensure that the most important work for the Filecoin ecosystem gets the support it deserves - not just once, but continuously and at scale?

The answer we’re building toward is the Filecoin Public Goods Funding (FIL PGF) network - an evolving, multi-pronged mechanism for funding open-source and public goods that not only strengthens Filecoin but could set new standards for the broader crypto ecosystem.

Understanding the FIL PGF Network

The FIL PGF maps the current flows of funding from diverse sources - Protocol Labs, the Filecoin Foundation, service providers, apps, L2s into coordinated funding programs.

(diagram credit: Juan Benet)

At the heart of this network sit two complementary pillars:

• ProPGF – Proactive Public Goods Funding: A curated, selection committee-driven process to allocate resources to projects with a clear, strategic impact on the ecosystem’s priorities.
• RetroPGF – Retroactive Public Goods Funding: Modeled after Optimism’s RetroPGF, this rewards work after it has proven its value -“fund in recognition rather than anticipation.” In this model, contributions that have already created impact are recognized and rewarded by a broad group of community badgeholders.

Both pillars are essential: ProPGF ensures we can target and seed important work early, while RetroPGF ensures quantifiable impact and value are recognized, creating a reinforcing cycle for contributors.

What We’ve Achieved So Far

• ProPGF Batch 1 (May 2025): $3.6M awarded to 14 ecosystem builders.Read more here.
• RetroPGF: Two completed rounds have already allocated 500k FIL to 100+ projects with funding based on demonstrated ecosystem impact. Read more here on round 1 & round 2.

What’s working today:

• Key projects are being funded through ProPGF, RetroPGF, and other channels like FF grants.
  • In FIL RetroPGF-1, ~99 projects were funded across multiple categories with a 200,000 FIL pool, with Infrastructure & Dependencies receiving the largest share and highest average funding per project.
  • In ProPGF Batch 1, $3.68M was awarded across 14 teams, chosen from 38 applications.
  • Funding in ProPGF-1 went towards strengthening foundational infrastructure, developer tooling, and essential services (e.g., data retrieval, storage tools) to power future growth.
• A small number of experts can allocate proactively (ProPGF Selection Committee).
• 50+ network leaders serve as badgeholders to allocate funds retroactively (RetroPGF).

The Road Ahead

Over the next 18 months, we’re scaling and strengthening FIL PGF core pillars:

ProPGF

• Batch 2: Launching late October 2025, with funding decisions in January 2025; initial disbursements in Mid Q1 2026.
• 2026: Two additional batches are planned (Spring & Fall 2026), each similar in scale to Batches 1 & 2 – ~$4M each
• Q4 2025: There will be a call for new selection committee members. If you’re interested, please write to Josh or Sejal for more information.

RetroPGF

• Round 3: Applications will open in late September 2025.
• 2026: Two more rounds will launch, on the target six-month per round cadence.

Infrastructure & Governance

• Q3 2025: Launch of the BlueShift Foundation, a dedicated PGF entity established to steward and support long-term public goods funding initiatives.
• November 2025: Filecoin ecosystem Public Good Funding Thesis published.
• 1H 2026: Continued integration of ecosystem funding streams into FIL PGF (SPs, apps, L2s, PLFIF, FF).

Our “What’s Next” Goals

(diagram credit: Juan Benet)

Where we’re heading is bigger than just scaling existing programs. We want to:

• Enable 50+ network leaders to allocate funding proactively as well as retroactively.
• Make it easy for any organization within the ecosystem to fund Filecoin related public goods.
• Automatically fund ecosystem dependencies and PGF mechanisms.
• Enable apps and L2s to commit part of their revenue to their dependencies or the FIL PGF node.
• Secure sustainable, protocol-level funding for public goods that extends beyond Filecoin and can serve as a model for other protocol networks.

The journey of building sustainable funding for public goods in Filecoin is only just beginning. By combining proactive and retroactive funding models, strengthening governance, and aligning incentives across the ecosystem, the FIL PGF network is creating a blueprint for how open-source protocols can thrive. The next 18 months will be pivotal in scaling these mechanisms, expanding participation, and embedding public goods support at the protocol level. If successful, FIL PGF will not only safeguard the long-term health of the Filecoin network but also serve as a model for the broader crypto ecosystem—demonstrating how communities can come together to recognize, reward, and sustain the essential work that underpins decentralized innovation.