MARA Launches Foundation to Protect Bitcoin from Quantum Threat and Ensure Network Resilience

MARA Holdings (MARA) CEO Fred Thiel announced the launch of the MARA Foundation at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, outlining a broad initiative to support the long-term resilience of the Bitcoin network beyond the firm's bitcoin and AI mining operations.

"Bitcoin is the most important decentralized system ever created, but its future is not guaranteed," Thiel said, emphasizing that the network requires active stewardship.

Thiel described Bitcoin as "a public utility that nobody owns, but everybody depends on," adding that decentralization "doesn’t mean it runs on itself, it means responsibility is distributed."

Foundation's Key Focus Areas

The foundation will concentrate on maintaining Bitcoin's core properties as "sound, durable money" while advocating for its open and global use. Key priorities include:

• Supporting the network's security budget, particularly the development of a sustainable transaction-fee market.
• Funding research into emerging risks, such as quantum computing.
• Funding open source development across scaling, mining, and user infrastructure.
• Expanding access to self-custody and promoting financial sovereignty worldwide.
• Education and policy engagement, including technical training, multilingual resources, and outreach to regulators.

As part of the launch, MARA will award $100,000 to one of three nonprofit organizations, with the recipient chosen by community vote, underscoring Thiel’s call for shared responsibility across the ecosystem.