Foundry is launching a new program that allows miners to contribute a part of their mined coins to Bitcoin developers.
Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Foundry said in a Tuesday press release that it aims to support Bitcoin’s ecosystem with a new initiative enabling miners in the U.S. to donate mined coins to blockchain developers.
The initiative, dubbed Foundry Donate, connects miners in Foundry USA Pool with IRS-approved 501(c)(3) entities, allowing direct donations to core developers. The New York-headquartered firm says the system settles all donations in an automated on-chain mode, enabling recurring donations to vetted nonprofits.
Foundry CEO Mike Colyer notes the initiative aligns with the firm’s mission to "empower decentralized infrastructure.” Initially, miners can choose only two nonprofits—Brink and OpenSats—though Foundry promises to expand the list soon. The firm has already committed 0.2 BTC from its own mining operations to each of these nonprofits, while Bitcoin miner Core Scientific donated 1 BTC.
In early 2024, crypto asset management firm Bitwise pledged to allocate 10% of its profits from the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF to support Bitcoin open-source development. At that time, the company stated the funds would go towards Brink, OpenSats, and the Human Rights Foundation to "express gratitude" to Bitcoin network developers and researchers. Investment firm VanEck had also pledged earlier to allocate 5% of potential profits from its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF to support Bitcoin core developers at Brink.
