Photo: Brian Friedman (Shutterstock)
Residents of the Marcy housing projects in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York are waking up one thousand dollars richer this weekend following the completion of a cryptocurrency training hosted by Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey. According to Okay Player, the rapper turned entrepreneur and former Twitter CEO launched The Bitcoin Academy in June, offering Marcy Houses residents an opportunity to learn more about the place of crypto in the current financial landscape, as well as other tools for financial planning and investing.
The three month program is now concluding with all participants (close to 350 in total) receiving nearly one thousand dollars in Bitcoin, which per Business Insider, is personally being funded by Jay-Z and Dorsey themselves. The payments were immediately distributed via Cash App, Muun Wallet, and a handful of other self-custodial digital wallets.
With the success of the inaugural program in Bed-Stuy, The Bitcoin Academy is set to launch in other neighborhoods in the next year.
“Marcy residents showed up,” said JAY-Z’s mother, Gloria Carter, who serves as president and co-founder of the Shawn Carter Foundation. “The over 350 people who attended The Bitcoin Academy classes let us know that this education is important to them – and that it matters. What also matters is providing the necessary resources such as dinner, childcare, devices, internet access, dedicated staff and instructors so that as many people as possible could participate in person and online. I am so grateful to the community that came together to make this happen, and especially to all the class participants who are now more empowered to make their own financial decisions with greater knowledge,” Carter added in a statement to Business Insider.
“I am so grateful to the community that came together to make this happen, and especially to all the class participants who are now more empowered to make their own financial decisions with greater knowledge. Knowledge is power. It’s now up to everyone who participated to empower and prepare the next generation.”
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This is the first initiative for partners Jay-Z and Dorsey. And while others are praising the positive impact the program has demonstrated in Bed-Stuy, others are criticizing it as a press move. What do you think about the Bitcoin drop?