FTX Foundation - a philanthropic fund of the FTX Exchange - recently announced its 'Future Fund', which will support various organizations working on projects that empower the future of humanity. Among other things, these include developments in artificial intelligence, economic growth, improved power relations and safety from catastrophic biohazard.
The fund for the future
FTX revealed its multimillion-dollar fund in a blog post from its site on Monday. He provided a long list of over 37 lawsuits that the company would be interested in funding. Some are very ambitious, including addressing "demographic decline" and developing alternative voting systems.
The company noted, however, that the list is not exhaustive. They invite readers to submit their ideas, or apply to tackle one of their pre-established proposals before March 21 for consideration in their first open funding round.
The fund plans to distribute at least $ 100 million to noteworthy projects this year. However, if enough ideas intrigue them, they could potentially invest up to $ 1 billion. This would be 2,5 times the funding that FTX just raised from its most recent funding round.
This is not to say that the effort is entirely charitable, however. FTX notes that it will invest in for-profit and nonprofit organizations alike, and is particularly attracted to "massively scalable projects" that could ultimately spend over $ 100 million annually. Tech startups are offered as an example of such scalable organizations.
“It's okay if you think your project will likely fail, as long as the lead is big enough if you're successful,” reads the company's 'Approach' page.
The Future Fund team will be led by Nick Beckstead - CEO of FTX Foundation -, together with Leopold Aschenbrenner, Will MacAskill and Ketan Ramakrishnan. Its main funding will come from FTX CEO Sam-Bankman Fried, whom Forbes named "the richest 29-year-old in the world" in October.
Humanity and the Crypto community
The crypto community is often offended for being a net burden to humanity's future, particularly in the context of climate impact. However, various industry players and community members have used cryptography to support geopolitical and humanitarian causes in recent months.
In January, the Cardano Foundation announced that it had used blockchain technology to track the plantation of more than 1 million trees, to promote itself as an eco-friendly blockchain. Cryptocurrency donors have also helped provide relief to Ukraine during its conflict with Russia, with the country that has raised tens of millions of dollars in digital goods.
