Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey Launch Bitcoin Academy to Promote Financial Education

Rapper Jay-Z is launching a financial education program featuring cryptocurrencies in partnership with Twitter co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey.

The Bitcoin Academy will run twice per week from late June through Sept at Marcy Houses, the public housing complex in Brooklyn, New York, Jay-Z hails from.

Goal to promote financial independence

The program intends to teach residents of the project about achieving financial freedom, with an emphasis on using bitcoin. “The simple goal is to provide people tools to build independence for themselves and then the community around them,” tweeted Jay-Z.

The curriculum will cover what a cryptocurrency is, how blockchains work and how to identify scams. It will also include in-person and online instruction from Lamar Wilson, operator of Black Bitcoin Billionaire, and Najah J. Roberts, founder and CEO of event and education space Crypto Blockchain Plug. Each participant will receive a smartphone, MiFi device and a one-year data plan, as well as a small amount of bitcoin to work with. A “Crypto Kids Camp” teaching programming will also be offered for children and teens aged five to 17.

Crypto collaborations

This project is not the first time Dorsey and Jay-Z have collaborated. Last year, the cryptocurrency enthusiasts launched “₿trust,” a Bitcoin development fund which concentrated on Bitcoin development in Africa and India. The pair provided an initial endowment of 500 BTC, which amounted to nearly $24 million at the time, making ₿trust one of the largest funds of this nature in relative dollar terms. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin Academy is being funded via personal grants from the two entrepreneurs.

Last year, Jay-Z also successfully auctioned off a non-fungible token (NFT) at Sotheby’s for $139,000. The proceeds from the sale went to the Shawn Carter Foundation and other charities Jay-Z supports. The NFT marked the 25th anniversary of his album Reasonable Doubt and featured a custom piece of digital art from Derrick Adams.