MARA Holdings, one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies in North America, announced an important move at the Bitcoin Conference. Fred Thiel, the company’s CEO, announced that the company has gone beyond blockchain and artificial intelligence mining and established a new foundation for the long-term health of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
MARA Foundation’s goals
MARA Foundation’s priorities include ensuring the sustainability of the underlying security of the Bitcoin network and advocating for open, global use of this network. The Foundation aims to ensure that Bitcoin remains a solid and durable store of value. Especially due to increasing concerns about the security budget of the network, the development of transaction fees and related sustainable revenue models is prioritized.
At the same time, research will be supported to fund research against the emergence of new risks such as quantum computing for cryptocurrencies. The company also plans to make financial contributions to open source projects that develop software in its own chain. In this context, it is aimed to allocate resources for both scalability and mining and user infrastructure projects. It is also planned to expand access to “self-custody” technologies that allow users to directly manage their own assets.
Education and policy-oriented approach
MARA Foundation aims to create impact not only in the technical field, but also at the regulatory and social level. The Foundation will provide technical training with multilingual resources and engage with both users and regulatory authorities. It is emphasized that these trainings are important for a better understanding of cryptocurrencies on a global scale and the creation of compatible legislation.
Additionally, promoting financial sovereignty stands out within the scope of the foundation’s objectives. Various programs will be prepared to ensure that more people and institutions around the world can use Bitcoin safely and independently.
Community-focused reward: $100,000
As a highlight of its founding process, MARA launched a community-focused awards program with the opening of the new foundation. Accordingly, a reward of $100,000 will be given to one of three different non-governmental organizations, as a result of community voting. Fred Thiel, the company’s CEO, announced that they are demanding more shared responsibility across the industry for the future of Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin is the most important decentralized system; it is an infrastructure that no one owns, but everyone trusts. Decentralization does not mean that this network operates spontaneously; it actually means sharing the responsibility,” Thiel said, adding that active efforts are needed to secure the future of the ecosystem.
The company’s long-term goals include both technically strengthening the defense of the network and preserving Bitcoin’s privacy, openness and security features. The Foundation argues that the opinions of the community should be given priority in all these processes.
