MARA establishes a “non-profit foundation,” focusing on the PQ wallet and post-quantum research

MARA Holdings CEO Fred Thiel announced at the April 27 Bitcoin 2026 Conference that MARA officially established a nonprofit organization, the MARA Foundation. According to MARA Holdings’ official statement, the foundation’s three core missions are: advancing post-quantum technology R&D, supporting development of the BIP-360 proposal, and building the Bitcoin transaction fee market.

MARA Foundation Organization Positioning and Structure

According to MARA Holdings’ official statement, the MARA Foundation is positioned as an independent nonprofit organization, with its scope of operations covering open-source development, academic research, education and outreach, and policy advocacy. In a statement at Bitcoin Conference 2026, Fred Thiel said: “MARA benefits from the development of the Bitcoin network. The MARA Foundation is a concrete practice of how a company gives back to the network and fulfills a decentralized responsibility.”

MARA Holdings’ official materials show that the company is one of the largest Bitcoin mining firms globally by computing power scale, and it is also the fourth-largest company holding Bitcoin worldwide.

BIP-360 Proposal and Post-Quantum Wallet (PQ Wallet) R&D

According to a MARA Holdings announcement, the MARA Foundation will support research and development of “post-quantum wallets” (Post-Quantum Wallets, abbreviated as PQ wallets) and the BIP-360 proposal. The BIP-360 proposal was co-introduced by MARA market strategist Isabel Foxen Duke, and it aims to bring stronger cryptographic algorithms to Bitcoin.

The MARA Foundation announcement states that quantum computers have the technical potential to break existing Elliptic Curve Cryptography. It notes that Bitcoin addresses with publicly known public keys and early Satoshi-era wallets carry the technical risk that private keys could be reverse-computed. In his statement, Fred Thiel emphasized that the process of upgrading the Bitcoin network is rigorous and slow, and the MARA Foundation believes that preparing technological reserves in advance is necessary.

Building the Transaction Fee Market and Funding Open-Source Development

According to MARA Holdings’ official statement, the MARA Foundation will fund open-source development, covering Layer 2 scaling solutions through user self-custody tools. Fred Thiel said that by supporting scaling solutions, optimizing mining software and hardware, and improving user infrastructure, the foundation is driving the sustainable development of the transaction fee market.

Under Bitcoin protocol rules, the current block reward has already been reduced to 3.25 BTC, and this reward will continue to decrease over time according to the halving mechanism.

$100k Community Grant Program

According to a MARA Holdings announcement, the MARA Foundation will allocate $100k in funding to nonprofit organizations recognized by the community. The allocation will be determined by the Bitcoin community through in-person and online voting during Bitcoin Conference 2026. The three candidate organizations are:

Libraria the Satoshi: Promoting multilingual Bitcoin technical education

256 Foundation: Funding open-source mining hardware and software development

Satnet: Improving connectivity quality in the global south countries through a Bitcoin-powered wireless network

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the MARA Foundation officially announced as established?

According to MARA Holdings’ official statement, the MARA Foundation was officially announced as established by CEO Fred Thiel on April 27 at Bitcoin Conference 2026 in Las Vegas.

What is the main purpose of the BIP-360 proposal?

According to a MARA Holdings announcement, the BIP-360 proposal was co-introduced by MARA market strategist Isabel Foxen Duke. It aims to introduce post-quantum cryptographic algorithms to the Bitcoin network to address the technical challenge posed by quantum computers to existing Elliptic Curve Cryptography.

How is the MARA Foundation’s $100k grant allocation determined?

According to a MARA Holdings announcement, the allocation of the $100k grant will be determined by the Bitcoin community through in-person and online voting at Bitcoin Conference 2026. The three candidate organizations are Libraria the Satoshi, the 256 Foundation, and Satnet.