Coinbase’s GiveCrypto Donates $3.6 Million to Brink for Bitcoin Development
Coinbase’s philanthropic arm, GiveCrypto, has announced a donation of $3.6 million to Brink, a nonprofit organization that supports Bitcoin development. The donation will be directed towards funding Brink engineers and their open-source development efforts related to Bitcoin.
What is GiveCrypto?
GiveCrypto was originally started as a nonprofit organization by Coinbase, with the aim of distributing cryptocurrency to people living in poverty. However, in December, Coinbase announced its decision to wind down GiveCrypto due to its inability to generate a sustained impact.
According to Coinbase, recipients of GiveCrypto returned to the same baseline after the payments ceased, which led to the decision to terminate the program. As part of the wind-down process, Coinbase decided to distribute the remaining funds between Brink and another charity platform named GiveDirectly. However, specific amounts were not disclosed at the time.
Brink’s Bitcoin Development Efforts
Brink is a nonprofit organization that was established in 2020 with the goal of advancing Bitcoin through research and development and providing support to the Bitcoin developer community. It was founded by Bitcoin developers John Newbery and Mike Schmidt.
The organization operates a fellowship program designed to integrate new software engineers into Bitcoin development and a grants program intended for existing engineers. Through these programs, Brink aims to support and mentor Bitcoin developers.
Mike Schmidt, co-founder of Brink, expressed excitement about receiving one of the largest Bitcoin open-source developer donations from Coinbase. He stated that with these funds, Brink will continue its mission of supporting the Bitcoin developer ecosystem through funding, education, and mentoring.
In addition to Coinbase’s recent donation, Brink has received significant support from other sources. In June 2023, it secured $5 million from Jack Dorsey’s Smart Small funding initiative, which provides grants to independent Bitcoin developers. Furthermore, investment firm VanEck committed to giving 5% of profits from its spot Bitcoin ETF to Brink in January 2024.
According to Schmidt, Coinbase’s donation is one of the largest single Bitcoin developer donations in history. The donation adds to the $300,000 that Coinbase had previously contributed to Brink.
Conclusion
Coinbase’s philanthropic arm, GiveCrypto, has made a generous donation of $3.6 million to Brink to support Bitcoin development efforts. This donation will specifically benefit Brink engineers and their open-source development projects related to Bitcoin.
Brink, founded by Bitcoin developers John Newbery and Mike Schmidt, aims to advance Bitcoin through research and development and provide support to the Bitcoin developer community. With previous funding from Jack Dorsey’s Smart Small initiative and investment firm VanEck, Brink continues to receive significant support for its mission.
Overall, this donation from Coinbase demonstrates its commitment to supporting the growth and development of the cryptocurrency industry by investing in organizations like Brink.
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