The Bitcoin Academy stayed true to its promise.

The Academy

As AfroTech previously told you, billionaires Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey teamed up to launch a 12-week financial literacy program for residents of the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn, NY.

Participants would receive access to the academy’s tools and resources free of charge.

The Courses

Activations started on June 22, and The Bitcoin Academy launched with online and in-person courses through collaboration between Block, the Shawn Carter Foundation, Crypto Blockchain Plug, and Black Bitcoin Billionaire.

Course offerings included “Wealth Building and Assets,” “Why Decentralization Matters,” “Staying Safe from Scammers,” “Bitcoin & Taxes,” and “Careers in Crypto.”

"Information Doesn't Get To Our Community"

“A lot of times, information doesn’t get to our community. Not because people are being intentionally discriminatory, it’s because they’re not being intentional about getting the information there. And so somebody has to pick up the mantle and do it,” said Lamar Wilson, an instructor in the Academy and founder of Black Bitcoin Billionaire, according to Business Insider.

Marcy Houses

Fast forward and the program has come to an end.

To celebrate, Marcy residents were airdropped nearly $1,000 in Bitcoin by Jay-Z and Dorsey through Cash App, Muun Wallet, or other self-custodial wallets, under the conditions they enrolled as students, joined the program, and agreed to receive a grant, Business Insider reports.

"Knowledge Is Power"

“Marcy residents showed up. The over 350 people who attended The Bitcoin Academy classes let us know that this education is important to them – and that it matters,” said Ms. Gloria Carter, Jay-Z’s mother, and the president and co-founder of The Shawn Carter Foundation, in a statement provided to Business Insider. “What also matters is providing the necessary resources such as dinner, childcare, devices, internet access, dedicated staff and instructors so that as many people as possible could participate in person and online. I am so grateful to the community that came together to make this happen, and especially to all the class participants who are now more empowered to make their own financial decisions with greater knowledge. Knowledge is Power. It’s now up to everyone who participated to empower and prepare the next generation”