Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z are investing more than 19 million euros in a new Bitcoin foundation
The US rapper Jay-Z. (Photo: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com)
No time right now?
The Twitter founder and the rap star are investing a total of 500 Bitcoin in the new foundation. The stated goal: to make Bitcoin the currency of the Internet.
Jack Dorsey announced on Twitter that he and rap musician Shawn Corey Carter, known as Jay-Z, want to jointly set up a foundation called Btrust. Btrust is supposed to drive the Bitcoin development and will be endowed by the two billionaires with a total of 500 Bitcoin.
JAY-Z /@S_C_ and I are giving 500 BTC to a new endowment named ₿trust to fund #Bitcoin development, initially focused on teams in Africa & India. It’ll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us. We need 3 board members to start: https://t.co/L4mRBryMJe
– jack (@jack) February 12, 2021
According to Dorsey, the new foundation will initially support projects in Africa and India. Btrust is supposed to act completely independently of Dorsey and Carter. The two therefore have no influence on what happens to the foundation’s capital. For the establishment of Btrust, Dorsey is now initially looking for three members for the Board of Trustees. Potential candidates can apply via a Google Doc.
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India plans to ban cryptocurrencies
The fact that Btrust should initially also support Indian Bitcoin projects in addition to African projects comes at a rather inconvenient time. The Indian government is planning a nationwide Ban on cryptocurrencies. However, there should be certain exceptions to allow work on blockchain technologies in the country. At the same time, the proposed law provides for the creation of a state cryptocurrency.
As early as 2018, an advisory body had recommended the Indian government to ban private ownership of cryptocurrencies and to impose long-term imprisonment for violators. The same body also recommended that the government create a digital version of the national currency. Shortly afterwards, the Indian central bank decreed that banks were not allowed to do business related to cryptocurrencies. Two years later, the country’s supreme court cashed this order again.
