I suppose any VC firm could do the same, but...
▪️Ten31partner Bogarts on the opensats board
▪️Chooses winners and losers
▪️Funds projects and gets personal with devs
▪️Once project has legs, Ten31 privately invests
This feels like Ten31 avoids the initial risky funding rounds by offloading it to a non profit, then uses that relationship of grant money to convince the private deal.
Opensats sits on thousands of bitcoin from well intended donors who may never know Ten31 uses it as an early series raise they never have to pay for.
Replies (5)
Will be interesting to see if anybody figures out there is nothing stopping them from competing with open sats.
that would be pretty illegal though:
"A 501(c)(3) cannot be operated for private interests, and its assets cannot inure to insiders' benefit."
The IRS explicitly says private benefit can be monetary or nonmonetary, while inurement concerns insiders such as directors.
Seems good for Bitcoin
whether or not the intent is murky, the structural risk is real: any nonprofit board seat held by active investors creates a pipeline from donor money to private upside. a recusal-and-disclosure policy would settle most of this before suspicion has to.
Doesn't HRF and their vassals also operate in a similar matter?
I mean everyone know that everything is allowed within the cult.
