#BitcoinTwitter and #CryptoTwitter! Square is hiring 3-4 crypto engineers and 1 designer to work full-time on open source contributions to the bitcoin/crypto ecosystem. Work from anywhere, report directly to me, and we can even pay you in bitcoin! Introducing @sqcrypto. Why?
Last week I was considering my hack week project, and asked @brockm: “what is the most impactful thing we could do for the bitcoin community?” His answer was simple: “pay people to make the broader crypto ecosystem better.” This resonated with me immediately, so we’re doing it.
This will be Square’s first open source initiative independent of our business objectives. These folks will focus entirely on what’s best for the crypto community and individual economic empowerment, not on Square’s commercial interests. All resulting work will be open and free.
Square has taken a lot from the open source community to get us here. We haven’t given enough back. This is a small way to give back, and one that’s aligned with our broader interests: a more accessible global financial system for the internet.
Why add a designer into the mix? I believe this is an underfunded area in the crypto ecosystem. Great design will help more people access this technology faster and better. And we want to see more work to educate, like this: cash.app/bitcoin
I love this technology and community. I’ve found it to be deeply principled, purpose-driven, edgy, and…really weird. Just like the early internet! I’m excited to get to learn more directly.
Are you currently contributing to bitcoin-core or other crypto ecosystem projects for free in your off-time? We’d like to pay you to do it full-time. If interested, DM @sqcrypto, and follow for updates on our progress. Thank you!
The most incredible aspect of the internet is that no one person or organization controls it: the people make it what it is every day. That ideal is constantly under threat, especially today. We commit as a company to fighting for an #OpenInternet.
The power of the internet is only as good as the power it gives to individual people. The more we do to advance that, the stronger it becomes. This underlies all else. But there are two emergent and growing threats.
The first is a number of large organizations effectively building walled-garden alternative internets, sustained by favorable regulation, and thus killing competing ideas and organizations that could be better for society.
$1.6m to @codetenderloin to support support Code Tenderloin’s Calming the Corner street pop-up providing immediate and on the ground needs in the Tenderloin of San Francisco. codetenderloin.org
$1.7m to @antiviolence to support the AVP 24/7 Spanish/English crisis intervention hotline nationally and launch text and chat, and provide assistance for undocumented LGBTQ immigrants with emergency support. avp.org
Working on getting help to be more proactive and have a general intake form that doesn’t lean on my network or established orgs that have already done the work.
$75k for @TeenHealthMS to support the urgent needs of Mississippi youth disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 by providing a variety of assistance options, including: housing, nutrition, childcare, transportation, medical, and school supply assistance teenhealthms.org
$3mm to Colin @Kaepernick7’s @yourrightscamp to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization to elevate the next generation of change leaders. knowyourrightscamp.com
$1m to @DigDeepH2O to connect remote indigenous homes to hot and cold running water so that tribal members, especially the elderly and the at-risk, can stay home and stay safe, and to make Navajo Nation more resilient to ongoing and future outbreaks. navajowaterproject.org
$350k to @EdgewoodCenter who promotes the behavioral health of children, youth, and families, and supports a positive transition to adulthood. Funds will be used to assist in the emergency essential services provided by Edgewood as a result of COVID-19. edgewood.org
#startsmall is up to $87.8M in disbursements. Most are in the tracking sheet, some in process for next week. Interested in helping? All these are incredible and impactful orgs...find one that resonates with you. And now a thread on 6 new grants... docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
$530K for Live In Peace to provide 300+ families with rent in East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park, and Redwood City. These families are not eligible for rent moratorium or government assistance and have seen devastating financial losses from COVID-19. liveinpeace.org