JAY-Z and Jack Dorsey Gave $1000 in Bitcoin to Hundreds of Marcy Houses Residents

The Roc Nation chief and former Twitter CEO joined forces to boost digital wallets and financial literacy through their Bitcoin Academy educational program.

In June, residents of the Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn began a three-month course presented by The Bitcoin Academy, a financial education initiative presented by JAY-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation and Jack Dorsey.

Upon the course's completion, participants were offered a grant of about $1,000 in the popular cryptocurrency. According to Business Insider, JAY and Dorsey personally funded the payments, which were made through Cash App, Muun Wallet, and a few other self-custodial digital wallets. In total, over 350 of the housing development's residents participated in the program, which featured instruction from Black Bitcoin Billionaire founder Lamar Wilson, social justice activist Ryan D. Lawrence, Bitcoin Vegan's Justin Rhedick, and others. Residents were taught about the mechanics and purpose of cryptocurrencies, as well as tools for financial planning.

The program aims to "provide education and empower the community with knowledge about the financial system of the future." Marcy Houses, a housing project that JAY-Z called home for a portion of his childhood, is just the first host for the course. Bitcoin Academy claims to be expanding to other neighborhoods and communities following the success of the program's inaugural run in Brooklyn.

"Marcy residents showed up," said JAY-Z's mother, Gloria Carter, who serves as president and co-founder of the Shawn Carter Foundation. "The over 350 people who attended The Bitcoin Academy classes let us know that this education is important to them - and that it matters. What also matters is providing the necessary resources such as dinner, childcare, devices, internet access, dedicated staff and instructors so that as many people as possible could participate in person and online. I am so grateful to the community that came together to make this happen, and especially to all the class participants who are now more empowered to make their own financial decisions with greater knowledge," Carter added in a statement to Business Insider.