Twitter chief Jack Dorsey on Friday announced that he and rap mogul Jay-Z are creating a fund dedicated to making bitcoin digital money “internet money.”
Dorsey, who is also the founder and head of financial services and mobile payment company Square, said in a tweet that he and Jay-Z are taking 500 bitcoins to fund an independent compensation called “Btrust” .
That level of cryptocurrency was worth around $ 24 million on Friday.
“It will be set up as an unsustainable blind trust, taking zero lead from us,” Dorsey said, adding that the fund would initially target bitcoin development teams in Africa and India.
He said three board members were being sought, linking to an online application that said the mission was to “make bitcoin the currency of the internet.”
Launched in 2009, bitcoin has been on a meteoric rise since March, when it stood at $ 5,000, spurred by online payments giant PayPal saying it would allow cryptocurrency account holders to practice.
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Tesla this week announced a $ 1.5 billion investment in digital currency and plans to accept the cryptocurrency from buyers buying its electric vehicles.
The news came on the heels of a social media inclusion of bitcoin by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who briefly changed his Twitter bio to “read #bitcoin.”
On Friday, Canada’s top security regulator announced the launch of the first trade-traded bitcoin asset, giving retail investors greater access to the successful cryptocurrency.
Skeptics say bitcoin is highly volatile and regulators warn it is vulnerable to illegal use.
Bitcoin on Friday hit a new high of $ 48,930 after MasterCard and US bank BNY Mellon moved to make it easier for people to use the cryptocurrency.