In the last few years you have gotten to know me through my work, either as a digital civil liberties advocate, a decentralized identity expert, or a blockchain architect and digital assets security advisor. This may have been when I was working at Blockstream, supporting internet standards, speaking at a blockchain conference, interacting on Twitter as @ChristopherA, or writing one of my influential blog posts.
I am now seeking your support for Blockchain Commons' open infrastructure initiatives, and my own advocacy.
Along with others experts from both the blockchain and decentralized identity communities, I founded Blockchain Commons a little more than two years ago. We've done important work on topics such as digital asset #SmartCustody including a free book, released bitcoin full-node tools such as Bitcoin Standup, produced mobile apps such as Fully Noded 2, created the DIY security hardware kit LetheKit, produced online blockchain development courses such as Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line, and supported a number of college interns for their first blockchain open-source projects. Our goal is to improve the infrastructure and knowledge base for blockchain technology, to grow the ecosystem and to benefit everyone.
We are proudly a "not-for-profit" social benefit corporation committed to open source & open development and a defensive patent strategy. Our work has been financially supported solely by our patrons and individual contributors, including Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gabriele Domenechini, Frederic Meyer, David Strayhorn, Mark S. Miller, Sean Moss-Pulz, Glenn Willen, Alexandre Linhares, and Trent McConaghy, as well as many small anonymous sponsors. Last year's #SmartCustody book was further supported by corporate patrons including Bitmark, Digital Contract Design, HTC Exodus, Adamant Capital, Beam Privacy, Catallaxy, Ledger, Unchained Capital, Winstead, Blockstream, Empowered Law, and Cryptotag.
I'm hoping that you can join us, to support this open infrastructure work and spread the word to others who might also help. Please consider becoming a Sustaining Patron of Blockchain Commons by contributing Bitcoin at our BTCPay Server or becoming a Github Sponsor through monthly ongoing patronage in fiat.
I'm also kicking off my personal campaign to solicit support specifically for my digital civil liberties, human rights privacy, and decentralized identity advocacy and related efforts in places like Wyoming, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and more. I am seeking sponsorships that start at $5 a month through GitHub Sponsors — and they are matching the first $5K!
Your becoming a GitHub sponsor at any level can be particularly valuable because it creates social proof that can encourage other people, companies, and foundations to match your financial contribution! So please show your "badge" of honor by sponsoring Blockchain Commons at /~https://github.com/sponsors/BlockchainCommons or me personally at /~https://github.com/sponsors/ChristopherA.
Separately for blockchain business and service providers, if you donate 1 BTC, or sign up as Sustaining Patron at GitHub ($1000/mo), we will accept a one-page non-bleed informative flier about your business or services for inclusion in the next edition of our #SmartCustody book. Your firm will be listed as a sponsor and, where appropriate, we will list your product or service as an option. (But even if you're not a blockchain business, or you want to sponsor us with a smaller amount, we encourage you to do so!)
I also tremendously appreciate your personal endorsements on Twitter, on LinkedIn , or at other social media pointing to my GitHub sponsor pages, and otherwise helping me to spread the word about our good work. For examples of great endorsements, see these from Mark Miller), Andreas Antonopoulos, Leon-Gerard Vandenberg, JW Weatherman, and @Frogolocolypse.
Finally, I also welcome you contributing to Blockchain Commons open infrastructure projects by sharing your knowledge, expertise, and time toward advancing digital civil liberties and a more open web. Contact me for how best we can collaborate together!
Regards,
-- Christopher Allen