x
Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital Holdings and Brink, a nonprofit striving to support open-source Bitcoin development, recently revealed their collaboration to generate up to $1 million in funding for Bitcoin Core developers. Marathon pledged to match all contributions toward this cause, totaling a maximum of $500,000 through 2023.
The publicly-traded mining infrastructure corporation Marathon Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: MARA) announced its partnership with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Brink to raise funds for Bitcoin Core developers. In a statement on Thursday, Marathon explained, “These developers are volunteers, who often work pro bono or on a donation basis, to ensure the Bitcoin protocol functions.” The partnership was unveiled at the Bitcoin 2023 event in Miami.
Marathon declared its commitment to match all donations up to an aggregate sum of $500,000 through 2023 during the conference — potentially amassing $1 million in total donations (including third-party contributions). “From May 18, 2023 to May 21, 2023, during the Bitcoin 2023 conference, Marathon will match all donations to Brink (up to a $500,000 maximum donation from Marathon) on a two-for-one basis. Following the conference, from May 22, 2023, to December 31, 2023, Marathon will match all donations on a one-for-one basis,” the company said.
Marathon’s CEO Fred Thiel also did an interview at the Bitcoin 2023 event and discussed the Biden administration’s proposed 30% tax on bitcoin miners in the United States. During an interview with crypto news outlet The Block at the event, Thiel emphasized that “Bitcoin miners will just leave the U.S.” Regarding the donations for Bitcoin Core developers, he mentioned that their efforts align with securing the network through mining operations.
“At Marathon, we have historically focused on supporting Bitcoin by adding hash rate, which helps secure the network, and now, we are supporting those who maintain the open-source protocol on which we all depend by contributing to Brink,” Marathon’s chairman and CEO stated. “Bitcoin Core developers are volunteers. Without them, the decentralized payment network that everyone around the world is free to use would not function the same.”
Marathon’s website discloses that as of May 1, 2023, it maintained 11,568 BTC in its treasury. The company also asserts a production capability of 14 exahash per second (EH/s) dispersed across eight facilities. Mike Schmidt, Brink’s executive director, stated during the announcement, that “[Brink is] grateful to be receiving donations from Marathon, which is a company that values our mission and that of Bitcoin, and we look forward to working alongside them to raise funds for Bitcoin Core developers.”
