Bitcoin Foundation Appoints 3 New Board Members with a New Mission Statement
The Bitcoin Foundation has appointed 3 new members to the board with the creation of three new member seats. The new members are runners up from the previous industry election and the Bitcoin Foundation — with the new appointments – have also published a draft for a new mission statement.
The press office of the Bitcoin Foundation has confirmed the appointment of Vinny Lingham, the co-founder and CEO of Gyft; Michael Perklin, president of C4; and Francis Pouliot CEO of Satoshi Portal to the board, today.
To accommodate the three new inductees, the Foundation created an “International Member seat”, now claimed by the runner up of the previous industry election, Vinny Lingham. Furthermore, two new individual member seats were created to have Michael Perklin and Francis Pouliot. While the three original runners up were Lingham, Perklin and Bruce Fenton, Fenton recused himself from the seat after he drafted the plan himself, with the board voting for the next runner up – Pouliot. In an interview with
In an interview with CCN.com, Michael Perklin said the Bitcoin Foundation should not interact with regulatory bodies. So too, has Francis Pouliot, who stated –at the time– that the Bitcoin Foundation was suffering from an “identity crisis” and he added: “I do not believe that the Foundation is the appropriate organization to fulfill this role [of speaking to regulators].”
CCN.com has previously interviewed Michael Perklin and Francis Pouliot. The interviews can be found here and here.
The board also voted to clarify any confusion regarding any changes in the bylaws pertaining to elections. In an unanimous approval, the board voted “to clearly note that there is no change in the bylaws regarding elections.” The three newly appointed seats were notably made under the current bylaws. Any change required with bylaws regarding elections would have to be put up to a member vote.
Changes, Continued Existence & Satoshi’s Seat
Keeping Satoshi’s Seat Warm
The Foundation also voted on making certain key changes. One of the more noteworthy changes was the transition of a fixed board member seat belonging to bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto to an optional one.
An excerpt from today’s press release reads:
Satoshi Nakamoto was originally listed within the founding member class of the Bitcoin Foundation board. Since we have no indication that knowledge that Satoshi accepted this seat, the board votes to change this seat to optional.
If Satoshi Nakamoto did turn up for his or her seat, the foundation has also planned ahead for such an event.
In such a case that Satoshi Nakamoto reveals himself or herself (using the PGP Public Key with fingerprint: DE4E FCA3 E1AB 9E41 CE96 CECB 18C0 9E86 5EC9 48A1) and if requested, the board would name him or her to the board automatically.
The Bitcoin Foundation Will Continue Operations
Significantly, the Foundation also voted unanimously to continue the Foundation itself, after seeds of discontent were sowed in recent times which culminated in two board members being voted off.
A summary from today’s statement read:
In noting the call by some to discontinue the foundation, the Chair asks if the new board, all of whom were leaders in previous elections feel that this is a mandate from the membership. / “Do you feel that those who voted for you wish for the foundation to continue existing?”
Question: Should the Bitcoin Foundation continue operations?
Motion made and seconded, passed unanimously
The board also voted to approve a change wherein international affiliate chapters will no longer have to pay membership fees or share revenues.
A New Mission Statement
A new draft mission statement is now pinned on GitHub and will be up for a month, courting member comments and reviews. A comprehensive plan for 2016 will be discussed during the next board meeting before being revealed.
It is important to define our mission and the various activities we work on as well as what we stand for. By offering a clear statement, individuals and companies can easily determine if this is something they support.
The mission statement reads:
Mission: To help advance Bitcoin and related technology through education advocacy and outreach across the globe by focusing on three primary areas:
1) Fostering Core Development
2) Furthering education & adoption
3) Working to limit harmful regulations and encourage technical rather than regulatory solutions
Featured image from Shutterstock.
