FTX Foundation – a philanthropic fund by 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 bio-risk.
FTX revealed its multi-million dollar fund in a blog post from its site on Monday. It provided a long list of over 37 causes which the company would be interested in funding. Some are highly ambitious, including addressing ‘demographic decline’, and developing alternative voting systems.
The company did note, however, that the list is not exhaustive. They invite readers to submit their own ideas, or to apply to tackle one of their pre-established proposals before March 21st to be considered in their first open round of funding.
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. That would be 2.5 times the funding that FTX just raised from its most recent funding round.
That’s not to say the effort is entirely charitable, however. FTX notes that it will invest in profit and non-profit organizations alike, and is particularly attracted to “massively scalable projects” that could eventually spend over $100 million per year. Tech startups are offered as an example of such scalable organizations.
“It’s okay if you think your project will probably fail, as long as the upside is big enough if you do succeed,” reads the company’s ‘Approach’ page.
The Future Fund team will be led by Nick Beckstead – CEO of the FTX Foundation –, alongside Leopold Aschenbrenner, Will MacAskill, and Ketan Ramakrishnan. Its primary funding will come from FTX CEO Sam-Bankman Fried, who Forbes named “the world’s richest 29-year old” in October.
The crypto community is often slighted for being a net burden to humanity’s future, particularly in the context of climate impact. However, various industry players and community members alike have used crypto to support geopolitical and humanitarian causes in recent months.
In January, the Cardano Foundation announced that it had used blockchain technology to track the planting of over 1 million trees, to promote itself as an eco-friendly blockchain. Crypto donors have also helped provide relief to Ukraine during its conflict with Russia, with the country collecting tens of millions of dollars in digital assets.