University of Austin and Unchained raise $5 million in Bitcoin donations

Unchained and the University of Austin (UATX) announced a collaboration to hold Bitcoin for the university’s long-term endowment.

Unchained and University of Austin through groundbreaking partnership @uaustinorg We are launching a long-term fund for the first time in Korea. #Bitcoin. https://t.co/6KZO7YiBBo

— Unchained (@unchainedcom) May 30, 2024

“I was very passionate about what UATX was building in Austin,” said Joseph Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Unchained, who personally donated 2 BTC to kick off the campaign. “I see the organization’s value in building a modern academic institution integrated with free speech and markets, and I am excited to help the university make Bitcoin part of its long-term strategy.”

The plan aims to raise $5 million in Bitcoin for the university’s endowment, and the university has committed to holding BTC for at least five years. Donations are securely held and managed by Unchained, a prominent Bitcoin financial services provider specializing in multi-signature Bitcoin vaults.

The partnership also seeks to integrate UATX with the broader Bitcoin community by collaborating on planned efforts such as joint marketing campaigns, events, invited lectures, and hosted discussions.

“The university’s endowment is about serving students, and Bitcoin provides a unique opportunity to advance UATX’s efforts to develop future generations of leaders and innovators,” said Thomas Hogan, new associate professor in the Center for Economics, Politics, and History. said.

Founded in 2016, Unchained currently manages over $6 billion in Bitcoin and enables thousands of individuals and businesses to hold their own Bitcoin keys through a pooled custody model. The University of Austin is a private, not-for-profit institution dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth, according to a press release.

Kelly added, “Both the UATX and Bitcoin communities are building institutions for the future at a time when their respective worlds of higher education and financial services are dominated by entrenched forces that limit freedom through censorship.” “By choosing Unchained as a partner, the University is informing its evaluation of Bitcoin’s capabilities as a free-customer technology, and our custody model helps ensure that there is no single point of failure in the long-term holding of UATX.”