Jon Matonis has announced he will resign from his position as executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, and that he intends to step down from the group’s board of directors at the end of his term on 31st December.
Bitcoin Foundation general counsel Patrick Murck will take over immediately as its newly elected executive director, while Matonis’ board seat will be filled in a January 2015 election that will also appoint new members to positions vacated by Peter Vessenes and Gavin Andresen.Matonis has served as the head of the bitcoin industry’s oldest trade organisation since July 2013, when current Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation Peter Vessenes resigned as executive director at the nine-month-old foundation. Matonis served as a board director and secretary for the group from its 2012 inception to the time he assumed the executive director position.In statements to CoinDesk, Matonis voiced his hope that the Bitcoin Foundation will remain a powerful advocate for bitcoin, and expressed his personal gratitude to those who have been involved with the organisation.
Matonis said:
“Leading the Bitcoin Foundation has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Merging the diverse interests of the bitcoin community has been intellectually and professionally stimulating and now its time to pass the baton.”
Matonis intends to continue to work professionally in the bitcoin community through private-sector initiatives. He will continue to hold the title of founding member due to his early involvement in the group. The Bitcoin Foundation is currently seeking to fill the role of general counsel, which has now been vacated by Murck.Matonis previously held positions at investment management and digital payments consulting company Lydia Group, encrypted messaging startup Hush Communications, authentication services pioneer Verisign, and international credit card giant Visa.A graduate from George Washington University, Matonis holds a BA in Economics, and also studied at the University of Maryland.
Although his appointment was originally greeted with enthusiasm by the community, Matonis’ tenure at the Bitcoin Foundation has not been without its share of controversies, the most notable coming earlier this year when two other members of the board of directors resigned amid accusations of criminal wrongdoing outside of the foundation.Former BitInstant CEO and current advisor at Payza Charlie Shrem was the first to abdicate his post in January, stepping down from his seat after he was arrested in connection with enabling commerce on the online black market Silk Road. Shrem subsequently pleaded guilty to unlicensed money transmission and is awaiting sentencing.Similarly, Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles vacated his post in February, resigning as a director at the foundation ahead of the company’s highly public collapse.The Bitcoin Foundation faced criticism from the community at the time for its handling of both incidents. The group would later again face criticism in May, as members exited following controversial appointments resulting from the group’s voting process.
There were numerous accomplishments during his tenure, as well. As executive director, Matonis also sought to expand the international reach of the Bitcoin Foundation, launching its first international chapters in December and overseeing the relocation of the group to London to align with these global goals.In the subsequent months, the Bitcoin Foundation would add 10 international groups, including new chapters in Australia, Mexico and most recently France.Matonis further led the organisation’s attempts to bring new standardization to the technology, championing such initiatives as establishing a three-letter currency code (XBT) for bitcoin, and later a Unicode-approved bitcoin symbol.Matonis also remained a visible figure in the bitcoin community, engaging community members at major conferences, contributing posts to the Bitcoin Foundation blog and writing opinion pieces for CoinDesk, where he continues to serve as a contributing editor.His work has appeared in American Banker, Forbes and PaymentsSource, among other publications.
The Bitcoin Foundation is an American lobbying group headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in September 2012 with the stated mission to “standardize, protect and promote the use of Bitcoin cryptographic money for the benefit of users worldwide.” The organization was modeled on the Linux Foundation and is funded mainly through grants made by for-profit companies that depend on the Bitcoin technology.
Patrick Murck is also a member of the original founding team for the Bitcoin Foundation. He will assume his role as executive director effective immediately and an announcement on the general counsel will be forthcoming, the Foundation said.“Two years is a lifetime in Bitcoin and we’ve come a long way from where we began,” Murck said. “And yet, there is still so much ahead of us. I thank Jon for his service and am honored to receive this appointment. I commit to continue paving the way for our community of investors, entrepreneurs, and technologists to maximize Bitcoin’s potential for all people.”Established in July 2012, Matonis is a founding board member of the Foundation and was appointed executive director in July 2013 just as Bitcoin broke into mainstream consciousness, resulting in an increase in investments and official inquiries from policymakers and regulatory agencies.
“Jon stepped up to the plate and proactively extended Bitcoin awareness beyond the Bitcoin community, engaging industry professionals in banking, finance, economics and regulatory affairs at a time when the world looked to the Foundation for an organized voice,” said Peter Vessenes, chairman of the board of directors for the Bitcoin Foundation. “He also globalized the Foundation’s efforts, building a bridge on which we can build collaborative worldwide consensus for Bitcoin’s future.”
source: http://www.coindesk.com/jon-matonis-resigns-bitcoin-foundation-executive-director/
source: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/jon-matonis-resigns-executive-director-bitcoin-foundation/
source: http://insidebitcoins.com/news/jon-matonis-announces-resignation-from-the-bitcoin-foundation/25877
Bitcoin Foundation Executive Director Jon Matonis resigns
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