Payment giant Square announced on Wednesday that it will be giving out $5 million in grants from a newly created "Bitcoin Endowment," and that it has selected Black Bitcoin Billionaire—a group that aims to bring Black people into cryptocrypto and provide wealth education—as its first recipient.
The new Bitcoin Endowment is part of a larger initiative by Square to invest a total of $100 million to promote financial inclusion, and to improve access to crypto and other technologies among minority communities. The initiative also includes a $25 million contribution to the Netflix-led Black Economic Development fund, and $10 million for the Entrepreneurs of Color fund.
[ad unit /]
As Square explains in a memo, the new Bitcoin Endowment is funded by interest it earns on Bitcoin that the company has added to its corporate treasury and invested with digital currency lender Genesis. In a related announcement, Square touted Bitcoin as a way to overcome historical discrimination in the financial sector.
"From those with no credit history who cannot open bank accounts, to people living in places with limited access to banks, to populations that have historically been discriminated against, bitcoin can help level the playing field and build a more inclusive future," said the company.
According to a Square spokesperson, the company will distribute the $5 million fund on a rolling basis every quarter over the next few years. It did not disclose the size of the award to Black Bitcoin Billionaire, which has yet to announce the award on its website, though the group's Twitter account retweeted a recent tweet referencing support from Square's Cash App product:
For Square, the Bitcoin Endowment reflects its ongoing push into Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. In Miami, CEO Jack Dorsey disclosed that the company may build a Bitcoin hardware wallet—a potential move that comes as millions of its Cash App users dabble in Bitcoin, boosting the company's revenue in the process.
As of May, Square has purchased $240 million worth of Bitcoin to add to its corporate treasury, earning interest that has helped fund projects like its Bitcoin Endowment.
An earlier version of this story misstated the company from which Square is earning Bitcoin interest. It is Genesis, not Galaxy.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
U.S. payments company PayPal said Wednesday it plans to launch a new platform this fall that will link domestic digital wallets to its global network of billions of users.
Dubbed PayPal World, the system lets users of India’s UPI, China’s WeChat Pay, and Brazil’s Mercado Pago transact with PayPal or Venmo merchants abroad without opening new accounts or using cards.
“Moving money across borders is incredibly complex, and this platform is designed to make it simple for nearly two billion users,”...
MEI Pharma, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, closed a $100 million private placement on Wednesday to refashion itself into a litecoin treasury firm.
MEI sold 29,239,767 shares of its common stock, raising roughly $100 million, Litecoin Foundation founder Charlie Lee told Decrypt. Under the agreement, the company sold its stock at $3.42 per share. Lee led the private placement alongside digital asset market maker GSR and will be joining MEI’s board of directors, according a statement fro...
A century-old Japanese textile company has become the latest financially battered firm to turn to Bitcoin as a treasury asset, announcing plans to purchase up to $5.4 million (800 million yen) in crypto to stabilize its bottom line after years of losses and muted cash flow.
Kitabo Co., Ltd., a Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed textile manufacturer that produces synthetic fibers and industrial materials, announced in a statement on Tuesday that it will begin gradually acquiring Bitcoin using dollar-cos...