Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin Academy Airdrops $1,000 in BTC to All Attendees

The first iteration of The Bitcoin Academy – Jack Dorsey and Jay Z’ (Shawn Carters) Bitcoin education program – has come to an end.

After 12 weeks, the initiative ended up sending $1,000 in Bitcoin to all participants who chose to receive a grant.

Jack and Jay Z’s parting gift

As reported by Business Insider, the entire program, including the final airdrop, was personally funded by both Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey. Although it is unclear exactly how many people received the broadcast, an email from Jay’s mother revealed that the program was attended by over 350 Marcy residents.

“Marcy residents showed up,” she said. “What also matters is providing the necessary resources such as dinner, childcare, devices, internet access, dedicated staff and instructors so that as many people as possible can participate in person and online.”

Bitcoin Academy was announced in early June as an in-person program to deliver Bitcoin education and resources to the residents of Marcy Houses, New York – where Jay Z grew up. It lasted from 22 June to 7 September.

At the time, organizers were open about participants receiving various rewards, including free MiFi devices, one-year data plans and smartphones. Other benefits, such as free childcare offered by the program, enticed some residents to participate. However, the Bitcoin gift was a last-minute surprise.

What the program taught

Some of the courses covered at the event included titles such as “Wealth Building and Assets”, “Why Decentralization Matters”, “Staying Safe From Scammers”, “Bitcoin and Taxes” and “Crypto Careers”, as well as others. All courses were recorded and remain available online – but only to Marcy residents.

“A lot of times the information doesn’t get to our community,” explained Lamar Wilson, an academy instructor and founder of Black Bitcoin billionaire. “Not because people discriminate on purpose, it’s because they’re not conscious of getting the information there.”

As he noted, many of the residents were able to understand even complex and technical concepts like Bitcoin mining when explained to them. They were also taught how Bitcoin can be used as a tool to build “generational wealth”, which resonated with many participants.

Wilson, in particular, was intrigued by how Bitcoin could be a tool for historically oppressed groups to protect their wealth from confiscation. One Marcy resident – ​​Mariela Regalado – recognized Bitcoin as a tool that could help secure a financial future for her daughter.

“I do stacks for her and I probably wouldn’t have been able to say that in June before the academy, but now I can because now I know what it means,” she said.

Both Wilson and Regalado emphasized that students at the academy were in no way pressured to buy or trade Bitcoin, but were simply educated on it. “It always felt like we were at a family dinner and like the cousin who discovered Bitcoin is telling everyone else about it,” Regalado said.