Block CEO Jack Dorsey and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z are teaming up to bring Bitcoin and financial education to the rapper’s childhood home. This initiative is called The Bitcoin Academy, a democratic educational initiative that supports the notion that “education is power.”
This program is only accessible to New York City’s Marcy Project public housing complex residents. The program will begin on June 22 and run until September 7, with in-person and online options available.
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The initiative aims to provide financial education with a focus on Bitcoin as a path to financial freedom, with free in-person and online classes taught by Lamar Wilson, the founder and CEO of the event and education space Crypto Blockchain Plug, and Najah J. Roberts, the founder, and CEO of content site Black Bitcoin Billionaire. Participants will receive smartphones, MiFi devices, and a one-year data plan as part of the program, which will run twice a week from late June until September. There’s also a weekend program specifically for kids.
Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z have been partners and Bitcoin advocates for a long time. Apart from working on TIDAL, which Jay-Z sold to Dorsey, the pair invested $5000 in Bitcoin last year to grow the cryptocurrency’s appeal in India and Africa. On the other hand, the Bitcoin Academy is supported by personal donations from the two entrepreneurs.
Dorsey said he was encouraged by the success of Bitcoin programs that have helped a tiny group of Africans, Central Americans, and South Americans. The overarching goal, according to Dorsey, is to “show that making powerful tools more accessible to people empowers them to create more independence.”
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The Shawn Carter Foundation, which Jay-mother Z’s Gloria Carter oversees as co-founder and CEO, will run the academy daily.
In a statement, Carter stated, “The Shawn Carter Foundation has always been about giving educational access and opening doors of opportunity to underrepresented communities.” “Everyone should be able to make sound financial decisions to provide for themselves and their family.”