Coinbase donates $3.6m to Brink for Bitcoin development

Coinbase is donating $3.6 million to the Bitcoin-focused nonprofit Brink, concluding its GiveCrypto initiative to distribute crypto to impoverished people.

The company terminated GiveCrypto in December, citing its failure to achieve a lasting impact.

While stating its intention to divide the remaining assets between Brink and the charity platform GiveDirectly, specific allocations were initially undisclosed.

Established in 2020, Brink’s mission is to enhance the Bitcoin (BTC) protocol through research, development, and support for the Bitcoin developer community. It offers a fellowship to integrate new software engineers into Bitcoin development and a grants program for seasoned developers.

Brink plans to utilize the donation from Coinbase to support its developers working on the Bitcoin codebase further.

Brink previously received significant funding, including $5 million from Jack Dorsey’s Start Small funding initiative in June 2023 and a pledge in January from investment firm VanEck to donate 5% of its spot Bitcoin ETF profits to the nonprofit.

“Brink is excited to receive one of the biggest Bitcoin open source developer donations from one of the biggest companies in the space, Coinbase. With these funds, we will continue our mission to support the Bitcoin developer ecosystem through funding, education, and mentoring,” said Brink Co-Founder Mike Schmidt, expressing enthusiasm about the contribution from Coinbase.