Bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey just won the admiration and praise of more than just his Twitter followers. Yesterday, the Square and Twitter CEO announced that he was allocating $1B (28% of his wealth) to fighting the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Bitcoin Advocate Elevated to Super Hero Status
Jack Dorsey has always had kudos in this space. His financial services and mobile payment firm Square allows for Bitcoin transactions. He enabled a ₿ symbol on his social media platform Twitter, and he’s repeatedly spoken out as one of Bitcoin’s biggest advocates. But now, he’s taken his superb human being status to a whole new level. He’s donated 28% of his wealth to fund global COVID-19 relief.
I’m moving $1B of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently, all flows tracked here: https://t.co/hVkUczDQmz
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
He went on to say that after the pandemic was disarmed, the rest of the funds would go toward girls’ health and education and UBI. He also provided a Google document where people can track how the money is spent and can see every movement completely transparently.
Further down in his Twitter feed, he justified his reasons for focusing on girls’ education and UBI. He said:
I believe they represent the best long-term solutions to the existential problems facing the world. UBI is a great idea needing experimentation. Girl’s health and education is critical to balance:
He also stated that it was important to make the process transparent so that “so I and others can learn.” He concluded by saying:
Why now? The needs are increasingly urgent, and I want to see the impact in my lifetime. I hope this inspires others to do something similar. Life is too short, so let’s do everything we can today to help people now.
Setting a Global Example
Dorsey’s tweet garnered thousands of likes and comments, perhaps most notably, a thank-you from ex-Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang who was a proponent of a Universal Base Income (UBI) of $1,000 for every American a month. He was also Bitcoin’s choice with high knowledge and support of the cryptocurrency who took the debate to the highest level. He simply said:
Thank you Jack! This is a spectacular commitment
Thank you Jack! This is a spectacular commitment.
— Andrew Yang
(@AndrewYang) April 7, 2020
Binance’s CZ also pointed out that Dorsey was a shining example for the next generation of “billionaires.” They should not be measured on how much they own, he said, but by how much they give:
The next generation of "billionaires" are not measured by how much they own, but how much they give. Respect @jack! https://t.co/UvJN8ECkwL
— CZ Binance
(@cz_binance) April 8, 2020
With all the disinformation, uncertainty, and fear gripping the world right now, it’s comforting to know that there are people like Jack Dorsey in it. Willing not only to step up and take action now but to see their commitment through experimenting with new financial policies. Respect.
What do you make of Jack Dorsey’s huge generosity? Add your thoughts below!
Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @cz_binance @Jack @Andrew Yang