Bitcoin mining company MARA establishes a foundation; the allocation of the first $100,000 donation will be decided by community vote

April 28 news, Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO of Bitcoin mining company MARA, announced at the “Bitcoin 2026” conference that the company has established a foundation. The Mara Foundation will operate independently from MARA’s core business, focusing on the long-term security of the Bitcoin network, ecosystem resilience, and public adoption. Funding directions include research on quantum computing threats, grants for open-source developers, self-custody education, and policy advocacy.As its first initiative, the Mara Foundation will open voting to the community to decide the recipient of a $100,000 donation. The candidate organizations are: Qala, dedicated to multi-language Bitcoin technology education; the 256 Foundation, specializing in open-source mining hardware and software development; and Cet, which uses Bitcoin as an incentive mechanism to provide affordable wireless network services for communities in the Global South. Voting is now open and will close on April 30.