Unchained and the University of Austin (UATX) have announced a collaboration to hold Bitcoin in the university's long-term endowment.
In a pioneering partnership, Unchained and the University of Austin @uaustinorg Launching the first long-term endowment fund in #Bitcoin. https://t.co/6KZO7YiBBo
– Unchained (@unchainedcom) May 30, 2024
“I've been very excited about what UATX is building in Austin,” said Joseph Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Unchained, who personally donated two bitcoins to start this campaign. “I have seen the values the organization places on freedom of expression and on building a modern, market-integrated academic institution, and I am thrilled to play a role in helping the university make bitcoin part of its long-term strategy.”
The initiative aims to raise $5 million in Bitcoin for the university’s endowment, with the university committing to hold Bitcoin for at least five years. The endowment funds will be held securely 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, guest lectures, and hosted debates.
“University endowments are about serving students, and bitcoin provides a unique opportunity to advance UATX’s commitment to cultivating future generations of leaders and innovators,” said Thomas Hogan, incoming assistant professor in the Center for Economics, Politics, and History.
Founded in 2016, Unchained currently manages over $6 billion worth of Bitcoin, helping thousands of individuals and businesses hold their Bitcoin keys through its collaborative custodial model. The University of Austin is a private, nonprofit institution dedicated to the courageous pursuit of truth, according to the release.
“Both UATX and the Bitcoin community are building institutions for the future at a time when their world of higher education and financial services is being taken over by entrenched forces that limit freedoms through censorship,” Kelly added. “By selecting Unchained as a partner, the university also signals its value of Bitcoin’s function as a freedom-preserving technology, where our custody model helps ensure there is no single point of failure in UATX’s long-term holdings.”
