Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has donated $1 billion to be used in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dorsey, also the founder of payments platform Square, said the money is to come from his shares in Square. As per a tweet he posted Tuesday, the $1 billion amounts to about 28% of his wealth.
Explaining the decision to use Square shares and not Twitter stocks, Dorsey tweeted:
“Simply: I own a lot more Square. And I’ll need to pace the sales over some time.”
The funds will be utilized via a limited liability company (LLC) called Start Small. Dorsey has pledged that the company will be transparent in all of its operations. To ensure this works, the public will be able to track all flows via a Google document.
Dorsey targets efforts beyond COVID-19
Start Small will also target efforts beyond the coronavirus pandemic, the entrepreneur tweeted.
The immediate concern is fighting off the virus. However, after that, it will be on programs that support girl’s health and education as well as Universal Basic Income (UBI).
In his announcement, Dorsey also explained why the focus would be on girls’ health and education and UBI. According to him, these efforts represented “the best long-term solutions to the existential problems facing the world.”
Dorsey is a strong believer in Bitcoin, with his Square one of the first to adopt cryptocurrency. The company also rolled out CashApp, a mobile payments app that also allows users to buy and sell BTC. Bitcoin has been one of the key earners for CashApp in recent years, especially as traditional markets have crumbled. In 2019 Square made an $8 million profit from BTC sales on CashApp.
Elsewhere, venture capital investor Tim Draper has predicted that the coronavirus pandemic could help Bitcoin. According to the billionaire, BTC could reap from the market crash that has whipped global stocks, effects of lockdowns and governments’ printing of more and more money to cushion against COVID-19.
Draper recently noted in an interview that governments are flooding the economy “with a bunch of money,” that will be “worth less and less,” with every bailout plan. It is this that could see people go for bitcoin after the pandemic.
Bitcoin (BTC) has traded above $7,300 in the past 24 hours after a recent rally took helped breach a strong resistance at $7k.
Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.
