Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has become the first name in cryptocurrency business to sign the Giving Pledge - which was started off by Billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in 2010, promising to give away a majority of their wealth for charitable causes. By signing this pledge, Armstrong joins the likes of Gates and Buffett, as well as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and a number of other wealthy technopreneurs who have also signed this pledge.
Reports from Business Insider indicate that the total value of the Giving Pledge could reach as much as $600 Billion by 2022. Coinbase was most recently evaluated at being close to $8 Billion - Armstrong owns a significant stake in the firm, close to about $1.3 Billion by some estimates. Even keeping the market fluctuations in mind, his personal net worth stands in at around $900 Million to $1 Billion.
The Coinbase CEO was featured on a blog post on the Giving Pledge website. Armstrong reflected upon his journey in that post, stating that 10 years ago, he said to himself that he would want to create a Billion-dollar tech company. He added that now that his dream is realized - he would like to give back to the community. He further added:
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.
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.
Armstrong had, earlier this year, started off with a charity platform called GiveCrypto, where people could directly donate cryptocurrencies to those in need - having personally donated $1 Million to start off the project, Armstrong’s initial goal is to raise $10 Million - and to reach a total of a billion dollars over the next two years.
Crypto-related charity has been on the rise. Another major name which operated in this space was ‘The Pineapple Fund’, which shut down earlier in 2018 after their goal was realized. The anonymous ‘Pine’ of the Pineapple fund claims to have been one of the earliest investors in cryptocurrencies who made a large fortune - following which he donated $55 Million in charity to various organizations across the world.
Armstrong has now become the first name in the world of cryptocurrencies to sign the Giving Pledge - joining an elite group of technopreneurs who have decided to donate a majority of their wealth. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg pledged to donate 99% of his shares in Facebook during his lifetime. The pledge is open to all billionaires and to-be billionaires who want to give away their wealth for the greater good.
