If you had a lot of money, how much–if any–would you give away? Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is following in the footsteps of fellow billionaires Warrant Buffet and Bill Gates by agreeing to donate most of his fortune to charity. Armstrong just signed the Giving Pledge, which was established by the two business magnates back in 2010 with the aim of donating the majority of their wealth to philanthropic purposes.
“Once a certain level of wealth is reached, there is little additional utility from spending more on yourself. One’s ambition begins to move outwards,” Armstrong wrote in a blog post on the Giving Pledge website. “I’ve always admired founders and leaders whose ambition to improve the world supersedes any goal related to personal wealth.”
Armstrong is the first crypto entrepreneur to sign the pledge, reports MSN. Over 150 people have already done so, including Elon Musk, Ray Dalio, Bill Ackman, and Michael Bloomberg.
“There is a quote I saw recently which read ‘The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him their own.’ This stuck with me,” Armstrong continued. “Whether it’s through improving education, creating a more level playing field, or increasing economic freedom, I’m interested in helping more people see their ideas come to fruition in the world. My hope is that more people will write down a ‘crazy’ goal someday, just like I did ten years ago, and it will turn out to be not so crazy after all.”
Armstrong’s crazy goal was starting a billion-dollar tech company. “At the time it seemed ridiculous. I had never started a company worth a thousand dollars, much less a billion, so I had no business attempting something so ambitious,” he wrote. “But day after day, I continued writing down that goal, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to stay focused. Fast forward ten years, and through a lot of determination and luck I am now the founder of a multi-billion dollar company.”
Earlier this year, Armstrong launched GiveCrypto.org, which makes cash transfers to people living in poverty. It’s the CEO’s first philanthropic effort.
Coinbase recently raised $300 million at a valuation of $8 billion, and according to Forbes Armstrong’s stake in the company is $1.3 billion. A year ago, Armstrong’s net worth was between $900 million and $1 billion. The value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has fallen significantly over the past year.
During the peak of the crypto bubble, 50,000 users a day were signing up for Coinbase’s popular exchange. The company has diversified by investing in custody offering, institutional products, an over-the-counter trading desk and a venture capital arm, reports MSN.
