Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey announced plans to fund large Bitcoin investment in developing countries, “initially focused on teams in Africa & India,” according to a recent Tweet.
This is not Dorsey’s first time showing an interest in the African continent. In 2019, Dorsey announced he planned to move to Africa (not specifying a country on the massive continent) for 3-6 months in 2020. The pandemic put an end to that dream, with Dorsey staying in the US.
Despite this, Dorsey’s plan to invest in African countries has not subsided it seems.
Dorsey and rapper Jay-Z will be giving 500 BTC to an endowment called ₿trust to fund Bitcoin development in Africa and India.
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/L4mRBryMJeFebruary 12, 2021
“It‘ll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us,” said Dorsey in a Tweet.
This is an impressive sum with 500 BTC currently being worth around R349,000,000.
Africa and India are interesting choices for this new investment. African countries specifically have been seeing major pushback from governments against cryptocurrencies.
Most recently the Nigerian Central Bank ordered all accounts trading in crypto to be shutdown. Other African countries, like South Africa and Zambia, have also been caught up in Bitcoin scams which have further alienated their governments from cryptocurrencies.
India has also had a tumultuous relationship with the government. New legislation continues to threaten to ban cryptocurrency trading, mining and investments.
Globally, however, Bitcoin has seen a massive rally, reaching new heights and further bolstered by support from major companies like Tesla and most recently Mastercard.
It seems this has not deterred Dorsey as he is moving ahead with applications for the new trust’s board. They are looking for three members and have opened up applications to anyone who is interested.
