Published 11:40 IST, February 13th 2021
Jack Dorsey and Jay Z announce bitcoin investment fund with focus on India and Africa
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Friday announced that he along with American rapper Jay Z is opening a Bitcoin development fund named Btrust.
- Tech
- 2 min read
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Friday announced that he along with American rapper Jay Z is opening a Bitcoin development fund named Btrust. Dorsey took to his official Twitter handle to share an application form, seeking three other board members for the fund. Dorsey informed that initially the fund will be focused on the development of bitcoin in Africa and India. Dorsey said the fund will be set up as a "blind irrevocable trust" with "zero direction" from the two of them. Dorsey and Jay Z have invested 500 bitcoin into the project.
Earlier this week, Dorsey had told The Wall Street Journal that his company Twitter is looking at new ways to use bitcoin, including payment of salaries, etc. Dorsey's Square invested in cryptocurrency last year by buying over 4,000 bitcoin, while his other company Cash App expanded its service to allow bitcoin trading. Dorsey launched Square Crypto in 2019, which grants funds to bitcoin designers and developers.
Bitcoin has seen a massive surge in its popularity and market value in the past couple of weeks, ever since Tesla founder Elon Musk vouched for the safety of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin's stock prices registered a boost late last month after Musk changed his Twitter biography to just '#bitcoin'. Musk also asked his 45 million followers to buy cryptocurrency, saying they are safe. Last week, Tesla announced that it has invested $1.50 billion in cryptocurrency and will soon allow customers to buy its products using bitcoin.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is also known as a digital currency and is traded entirely on the web. Bitcoin was invented in 2009 by an unknown person or persons and has no single administration to control it, unlike physical currencies, which are controlled by central banks all over the world. Bitcoin has become hugely popular among the masses in the last couple of years, before which it was only known by a select group of people. Earlier this month, bitcoin was trading at around Rs. 27,00,000 per coin, while as of February 13 it values at nearly Rs. 35,00,000 per coin.
Updated 11:38 IST, February 13th 2021