Bitcoin Foundation Disagrees With Board Members: Votes 2 Off
In light of the significant increase in bitcoin value over the last weeks, one of the biggest bitcoin advocacy groups, The Bitcoin Foundation, has just lost two members of its board. In a release of the meeting, 15 December, one member, Jim Harper, resigned and the other, Olivier Jansens, was voted off the board.
According to a release from Bobby Lee, Vice Chairman of Bitcoin Foundation, this situation evolved around the organization’s future and the role that it will play moving forward with operations. After Bitcoin Foundation Chairman Brock Pierce called the decision to remain or shutdown, Lee explains that “Jim Harper and Olivier Hansens voted to shut down the foundation.”
From Bobby Lee’s release:
We don’t take board changes lightly but believe this to be in the best interests of the organization going forward. As has been reported and shown in our public documents such as meeting minutes, our board has had some disagreements in recent months and our organization has also faced its fair share of ups and downs. It’s key to have a board that works well together and it’s effective.
Although there were stipulations thrown in from the two member’s decisions that Lee comments on, the unanimous decision for resignation and removal was Lee’s call. Lee sends the two off with well wishes and warm regards by kindly thanking them for their voluntary roles that they served in, but strictly defends having a board being “unified in a plan to stay and improve the organization.”
Olivier took to Reddit in the aftermath of the meeting and commented that:
there was a discussion on our future, because the Foundation only has a couple of Bitcoins left. They’ve been running on a skeleton crew for the last half year, but even that money has run out.
Olivier also indicated that his decision about the Foundation’s future was retaliatory in nature through his titling of the actual discussion:
I’ve just been forcibly removed from the Bitcoin Foundation board.
He argues, “I’m not comfortable to raise money until we have a plan: then they proceeded to vote me off the board, because they did not like that.” The board is now down two members and the others are all vowing to press on with the Foundation’s existence. These coming weeks and months will see what comes of the Foundation.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
