The DigiByte Foundation was started in 2019 as a Dutch ‘Stichting’, and played an important role in paying for server & hosting costs, providing developer bounties, contact with exchanges such as Binance and the many others that listed DigiByte in the past. Like many other individuals and groups in the DigiByte ecosystem, The Foundation did its best within the realm of possibility while being run by volunteers, but there is always room for improvement. Even with volunteers, when starting something with certain specific roles it always comes with responsibilities because there will be expectations.

After Hans left as Chair, Rudy took over, and with assistance and advice from some great people that also believe in the future of DigiByte, together we decided to make changes to rebuild the DigiByte Foundation. Not only team composition but also our plans, the strategies, public communications, and to focus on getting things done with clear achievable goals that benefit us all, and get the support of a global community.

As the new Chairman of the Foundation, Rudy Bouwman has been working tirelessly behind the scenes, together with the help of people from different backgrounds and different countries that also support DigiByte technology and decentralization at its core. We have spoken with supporters of DigiByte in Africa, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to discuss a better global presence and local topics, but also to better understand their local issues, challenges, the need for education and of course to discover opportunities for the DigiByte blockchain technology, its currency and the global adoption.

To lay the ground-work for a stronger, more resilient, better staffed Foundation, we have been reaching out to various DigiByte individuals and groups in order to create a new and refreshed team, reinforce bridges and empower the DigiByte ecosystem. A new structure with new strategies, aiming to create a more robust and better funded Foundation as well as a more inclusive and engaged audience with a global presence.

The DigiByte Foundation will be supported by ambassadors and advisors, from different countries and diverse backgrounds to further strengthen the team. A team which will now have a new Vice Chairman: Lars Weber, a Manager Community Service: Mike Aldy, and a Strategic Alliance Manager: Chantal Kusters. Of course Rutger Krijnen is still on board as Treasurer. The initial advisory board will consist of Jared Tate and Yoshi Jäger, advising us on open-source development.

The DigiByte Foundation will build its efforts on 4 pillars of focus.

Global Presence 

We will grow our number of ambassadors and aim to have a representative in every region of the world, regional ambassadors and local country ambassadors. Our ambassadors are able to get the message out in native language, and be a local advocate and point of contact. An ambassador will reach out and make connections to local businesses, communities and KOL’s. Ambassadors will also be able to explain how DigiByte Blockchain can protect businesses from cyber threats, and can make the right connections to establish the development of new use-cases. Soon we will have a program ready to apply for becoming an ambassador.

Education 

There is much knowledge to gain, and much knowledge to share. Education is not self-evident in every country, especially in developing countries. We want to create equal opportunities for all. Information should be easily accessible for both experienced people and newbies. With regular educational content, and by facilitating an educational platform, different blockchain, crypto, and DigiByte related topics will be covered.

Development

There is a need for more developers, especially for the core protocol development. Not only experienced developers, but also students, hobbyists, young and older ambitious people, people that are eager to learn and above all, subscribe to our core values. Every developer should be able to feel at home in our community and must be assured to get the right guidance and support when willing to contribute to specific development tasks and of course, eventually will be rewarded for it and claim a bounty. Moreover, we should find more people running full nodes to expand and strengthen the DigiByte Network to maintain continuity and stability.

Collaboration / Partnerships

Any project, group, individual or business that actively contributes to the DigiByte Ecosystem, can count on our support to help them grow. We will actively look for alignment, collaboration and synergies with other groups in our community, other blockchain projects and decentralized technologies, not only to get value, but add value and provide win-win situations to empower the DigiByte ecosystem.

The foundation will focus on creating a renewed and positive sentiment surrounding everything DigiByte and will encourage development and developers to further support and improve the network. Developer bounties and a more interactive developer support and communication program will be established to strengthen the DigiByte blockchain from the core. 

One of the main goals is to put DigiByte Technology on the radar of more businesses, payment processors and service providers to establish the DigiByte Coin as a superior alternative to Bitcoin, and be recognized as the ultimate currency in the web3 / metaverse environment. The DigiByte blockchain already functions as an incredible payment network and a lot more people from business and the private sector need to gain awareness of this fact. Therefore, strategic partners, exchanges, donors and enterprises will play an important part in helping to better position and anchor the secure and decentralized blockchain and payment network. 

Last but not least we want to enhance the mechanisms that fund the DigiByte Foundation. A better funded Foundation will be able to build awareness beyond the established DigiByte echo chambers. To become the leading blockchain and currency in the web3- and metaverse environment, we have to accelerate our marketing awareness and strategy like other well funded projects. Our strength lies in our community. During the past couple of years many Venture Capital backed tokens have absorbed a lot of attention that could have otherwise found its way into truly decentralised projects such as DigiByte. 

The new DigiByte Foundation is aware that in today’s “pay-to-get-the-message out” media environment, more will need to be done to create strategic partnerships and diversified donation-streams in order to better support the marketing and development for the DigiByte project as a whole with the aim to educate and to broaden appeal towards a global audience.

The DigiByte Foundation is looking forward to engaging with DigiByte supporters from around the world and to help create more DigiByte enthusiasts and supporters, constantly, consistently and over the years to come. DigiByte is here to stay. United we stand. Divided we fall.

Empower DigiByte, Decentralize the World!