# How is the Gitcoin Grants program changing?

Historically, the Gitcoin Grants Rounds operated on a quarterly cadence. However, [Governance](https://gov.gitcoin.co/) has approved the decision to retire our centralized quadratic funding platform (cGrants) and transition to a decentralized and customizable [Gitcoin Grants Stack](https://support.gitcoin.co/gitcoin-knowledge-base/~/changes/u95K1LIg4EpcHUmS8Khm/gitcoin-grants-program/what-is-gitcoin-grants-stack), which is in sync with our destination as GitcoinDAO. 

As a result, Gitcoin ran a streamlined Alpha Round on the protocol in January 2023 with the goal of testing the product while supporting established grantees. The next phase of this testing period introduces the [Gitcoin Grants Beta Round](https://go.gitcoin.co/blog/announcing-the-gitcoin-grants-beta-round) in April 2023.

Gitcoin’s renewed purpose which was ratified in July of 2022 is ***To Empower Communities to Fund their Shared Needs.*** In order to fulfill this purpose fully, we are creating a suite of permissionless, modular, and decentralized protocols that will allow communities to rapidly test different funding mechanisms on top of a deeply liquid registry of projects and enable projects to grow sustainably.

### Why are these changes being made?

Even though Gitcoin Grants built a strong use case for the value of Quadratic Funding to fund public goods, we built it as a centralized platform. It has come to a stage now where we need to decentralize it to scale it more widely and achieve our purpose.

Read this in-depth blog to learn more: [Announcing the Decentralized Future of Gitcoin Grants](https://go.gitcoin.co/blog/announcing-the-decentralized-future-of-gitcoin-grants)