Another cryptocurrency milestone has been reached by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. CNBC reports that Armstrong has signed onto The Giving Pledge begun by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as a way to encourage their fellow billionaires to give away most or all of their wealth – and he is the first cryptocurrency billionaire to do so.
Armstrong explains his rationale for signing onto the pledge on The Giving Pledge blog:
"Once a certain level of wealth is reached, there is little additional utility from spending more on yourself. One's ambition begins to move outwards. I've always admired founders and leaders whose ambition to improve the world supersedes any goal related to personal wealth."
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As part of that pledge, Armstrong started GiveCrypto.org earlier this year. It's a philanthropic cryptocurrency service that "makes direct cash transfers to people living in poverty," but he says he still has to figure out what to do with the rest of his fortune:
"I'm excited about the potential for this organization to help people, but I'm still early on my journey of discovering how to have the most impact via philanthropy."
Armstrong says his future philanthropic endeavors will operate under the maxim "The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him their own," and he hopes to help others achieve the kind of success he has had through their own ideas:
"Whether it's through improving education, creating a more level playing field, or increasing economic freedom, I'm interested in helping more people see their ideas come to fruition in the world. My hope is that more people will write down a "crazy" goal some day, just like I did ten years ago, and it will turn out to be not so crazy after all."
Stay tuned to see how he does it, and if his involvement in The Giving Pledge inspires any other cryptocurrency billionaires to sign on.
