2013-07-08 Announcing Jon Matonis as Executive Director of Bitcoin Foundation

[marcus_of_augustus]

https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=222

Why I Accepted Executive Director Position for Bitcoin Foundation

Jon Matonis   
Jul 09 2013

I am proud to have been associated with the Bitcoin Foundation since its launch just nine short months ago. A nonprofit organization for Bitcoin can add greatly to the political and economic discourse for cryptographic money and monetary freedom. As Executive Director, I welcome the new challenge.

The Foundation has never claimed to represent all of Bitcoin nor all of its users because that would be impossible for any organization. Rather, the Foundation has consistently attempted to fill the gap where market-based incentives may not have produced the same outcome, such as in the areas of specialized grants and compensation transparency for volunteer developers as well as legal challenges to bitcoin usage and the sponsorship of aggressive legal defense.

For instance, we made our “cease and desist” correspondence with the State of California publicly available which can assist bitcoin exchanges and other bitcoin organizations in the future. Also, we intend to file amicus briefs in significant bitcoin-related legal cases and to offer pro bono legal defense where appropriate. In the next 30 days, we are scheduled to submit comments to FinCEN’s guidance and request for industry feedback on rulemaking. This will be made publicly available too.

The Foundation is not pro-regulation as some have claimed, but it is pro-education. I fully support across the board bitcoin education for legislative and regulatory entities. Proper education is not anti-market and I also agree with economist Peter Šurda who stated that lobbying on behalf of Bitcoin is not necessarily anti-market. However, constructing barriers to market entry and being complicit in certain crony capitalism regulatory outcomes is anti-market. I will steadfastly oppose a crony capitalism direction for the Bitcoin Foundation.

One of my primary near-term objectives for the Foundation is to become more inclusive of the various constituencies within the global bitcoin community. This will involve being more responsive to and communicative with member requests. It will also involve being more open to internationalization. Currently, 60% of the Foundation’s membership is non-US based and we need to do a better job behaving like a global organization. To this end, we will hold the next Bitcoin conference outside of the United States and we will sign on local Foundation chapters in several countries where interested parties have taken the lead on expanding the principles of Bitcoin in their region.

The bursting of Bitcoin technology on the scene at this time in history is not a mere coincidence. It is a reaction to three separate epochal developments largely emanating from the developed economies: (1) centralized and oppressive monetary authority (2) a dominant and complicit legacy banking system, and (3) the eradication of financial privacy.

Future generations will not be very forgiving if the Foundation fails in its mission to standardize and protect Bitcoin worldwide. The youth of today, including the youth of the legislative and ruling classes, certainly grasp this movement and the demographics clearly bear that out. Choice in currency is the free speech of commerce.

Just as those against file sharing and BitTorrent technology were on the wrong side of history, so too are the institutional forces opposed to unfettered bitcoin growth. The great challenge and mandate for our time is in encouraging them to see it that way. Please join us.

Perfect.

[dree12]

gweedo, I am just curious who you would rather see as the "face of bitcoin"

Disclaimer: I love Jon Matonis's writings. I believe he is the right man for the job.

However, if a vote is called for then a vote must be called. Even if most expect it to be unanimous. History has proven that democracy falls whenever elections are cancelled because of immense popularity. Benito Mussolini is a striking example. Even if it is merely a formality, it is an important formality.

[Severian]

Hypercritical asshole that I've been about TBF, this is great news for the Bitcoin community.

If you see this post Jon, this old contrarian bastard wishes you all good things in your new position. Congratulations and mazel tov!

[Arto]

https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=222

Why I Accepted Executive Director Position for Bitcoin Foundation
Jon Matonis   
Jul 09 2013 [...]

I will steadfastly oppose a crony capitalism direction for the Bitcoin Foundation. [...]

The bursting of Bitcoin technology on the scene at this time in history is not a mere coincidence. It is a reaction to three separate epochal developments largely emanating from the developed economies: (1) centralized and oppressive monetary authority (2) a dominant and complicit legacy banking system, and (3) the eradication of financial privacy.

Future generations will not be very forgiving if the Foundation fails in its mission to standardize and protect Bitcoin worldwide. The youth of today, including the youth of the legislative and ruling classes, certainly grasp this movement and the demographics clearly bear that out. Choice in currency is the free speech of commerce.

Just as those against file sharing and BitTorrent technology were on the wrong side of history, so too are the institutional forces opposed to unfettered bitcoin growth. The great challenge and mandate for our time is in encouraging them to see it that way. Please join us.

That's as clear and blunt a mission statement as could be wished for. Matonis truly is one of the good guys.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Yet they don't talk about why they skipped the voting process and gave him the job. If that is what you call perfect, then we are in trouble.

I was simply addressing Jon's words ... in our previous encounters you have come across as an ill-informed malcontent so any "trouble" you see is probably nothing to be too concerned with and absolutely do not see myself being any part of the "we" you've globbed onto us with ... i.e. you might be in trouble, leave me out of it.

[cypherdoc]

the overwhelming out-pour of support for Matonis' appointment should be clear and resounding evidence to the likes of Luke Jr, Jeff Garzik, and Greg Maxwell that what they did to Jon in regards to the Bitcoin.org Press Center was absolutely against community wishes.

the question is, will they ever try such a stunt again?

[TheButterZone]

Don't directors usually elect the executive director? And the directors are elected by the membership?

[TheButterZone]

Don't directors usually elect the executive director? And the directors are elected by the membership?

Code:

(b) Vacancies of a Founding Director resulting from resignation of the director or removal of the director shall be filled by election of a majority of the Founding Members.

This is bitcoin foundation, they should be open about it, and allow members to vote on it. But they are flexing their egos and power trips to show everyone that they ultimately control the foundation.

If we want to get legal about it (while the BOD page is not up to date),

Peter Vessenes would have to resign or be removed from the board entirely to trigger an election. In his blog, he doesn't appear to have said so: https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=214

If PV's still a member of the board of directors, then he did not leave a vacancy on the board. There was simply a title shift, him to non-exec board of directors member, Matonis to exec director. Additionally, the exec director position is typically paid in any organization; as PV referred to it as "this hire", I believe this is the case. The membership at large does not typically control hiring, only via ousting board members who make the hiring decisions.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Don't directors usually elect the executive director? And the directors are elected by the membership?

Code:

(b) Vacancies of a Founding Director resulting from resignation of the director or removal of the director shall be filled by election of a majority of the Founding Members.

This is bitcoin foundation, they should be open about it, and allow members to vote on it. But they are flexing their egos and power trips to show everyone that they ultimately control the foundation.

If we want to get legal about it (while the BOD page is not up to date),

Peter Vessenes would have to resign or be removed from the board entirely to trigger an election. In his blog, he doesn't appear to have said so: https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=214

If PV's still a member of the board of directors, then he did not leave a vacancy on the board. There was simply a title shift, him to non-exec board of directors member, Matonis to exec director. Additionally, the exec director position is typically paid in any organization; as PV referred to it as "this hire", I believe this is the case. The membership at large does not typically control hiring, only via ousting board members who make the hiring decisions.

That's how I saw it ... I suppose the Secretary position is now open, maybe gweedo wants to get elected for that?

[RationalSpeculator]

Great news indeed! This is the first time I feel positive about the Bitcoin Foundation.

[eldentyrell]

The Foundation has never claimed to represent all of Bitcoin nor all of its users because that would be impossible for any organization.

Wow, it is great to hear that.  Until now the bitcoin foundation was implying otherwise, which won them more enemies than friends (or, in my case, won them the passive contempt of a bystander).  Either way, I'm glad to see Matonis out in front on this; he's the closest thing we have to a Linus figure right now.

Please join us.

I'd have bought a few lifetime memberships if it were called the "bitcoin-qt client development foundation".

the overwhelming out-pour of support for Matonis' appointment should be clear and resounding evidence to the likes of Luke Jr, Jeff Garzik, and Greg Maxwell that what they did to Jon in regards to the Bitcoin.org Press Center was absolutely against community wishes.

Yeah, that whole episode was pretty disgusting.  I lost a lot of respect for a lot of people after reading the github thread.

[marcus_of_augustus]

I don't want to be elected to any thing.

I think you're safe with that one.