Marathon Digital Holdings pledges to donate $1 million to match contributions towards Bitcoin development, according to Brink
During the Bitcoin 2023 conference, Brink announced a campaign to match donations from Marathon Digital Holdings, a Bitcoin mining firm, in support of Bitcoin Core developers. Marathon will match donations to Brink two-for-one during the conference until May 20th, and then one-for-one until the end of the year, up to a total of $1 million. Marathon’s CEO, Fred Thiel, urged attendees to donate during the conference and pledged to match those donations two-for-one.
Marathon hopes to advance Brink’s support for developers who maintain and upgrade Bitcoin’s code by committing to matching all third-party donations up to $500,000 until December 31st, 2023. Brink has supported numerous developers since 2020, including Marco Falke, Tadge Dryja, and Gloria Zhao, through grants, mentorship, and education. Brink’s executive director, Mike Schmidt, explained that they fund grantees who spend at least 50% of their time testing and reviewing Bitcoin Core code to improve the software’s security and performance.
Donations made to Brink through their website are eligible for the match, and Thiel framed the campaign as part of Marathon’s commitment to securing the Bitcoin network as a significant contributor of hash rate. Thiel believes that Bitcoin is the most secure protocol and that the industry should do everything possible to support developers and foster activity in the space.
