Payments firm Square has donated an undisclosed sum to cryptocurrency-focused non-profit research company Coin Center, according to a tweet by Square Crypto—its bitcoin-focused subsidiary. Coin Center refused to discuss details but told Decrypt the donation was made in the last month.
"[Shoutout] to our dad (Square) for giving a bunch of money to Coin Center, a move we obviously support. Coin Center is the #1 crypto policy advocate in DC. Their mission is to educate lawmakers about what bitcoin and crypto are so that they can be governed responsibly," Square said in a since-deleted tweet.
Square is owned by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has been an increasingly vocal supporter of Bitcoin over the last year. He has invested in Lightning Labs, which is building Lightning—a second-layer scaling solution for the Bitcoin network. He set up Square Crypto to help develop the Bitcoin network while building products that make use of it. Recently, Dorsey tweeted that he wants to create a standard for decentralized social media, hoping that Twitter will soon meet that standard.
"As far as why, the money goes toward supporting our mission of promoting sound policy for cryptocurrencies," Coin Center spokesperson Neeraj Agrawal said, adding the the donation was on par with other top supporters. He didn't say if the payment was made in bitcoin or fiat currency.
Coin Center wants to promote reasonable regulation of cryptocurrencies that helps to encourage the growth of the nascent industry. Wences Casares, CEO at Xapo and board member of PayPal sits on its board, while Jason Weinstein, partner at Steptoe and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, is on its advisory board.