To decentralize Bitcoin mining by building, funding and stewarding open-source alternatives to every closed layer of the mining stack, so that the technology Bitcoin depends on cannot be owned, switched off, or permissioned by anyone
Bitcoin mining does three jobs. It issues new coins, settles transactions, and secures the record. All three matter to everyone who holds bitcoin.
Today, that machinery is closed. One company controls most of the hardware and software. Closed means unauditable, unfixable, and permissioned.
To open it, you need the recipes. A miner is four unique building blocks: a hashboard, a control board, firmware, and a pool. The knowledge to build each was locked away.
So we wrote them down. We reverse-engineered every layer, published the designs as open source, and fund the work to commoditize them, so anyone can build, audit, and compete.
A mature mining industry: multi-vendor, accessible reference designs, auditable and modifiable open software - as building blocks for the whole stack.
Issuance, settlement, and record security are truly decentralized and permissionless.
Money from anyone, influence from no one. We take money from anyone; it has no impact on how we run the organization. No special treatment for any funder.
No obligation to capture value. Our non-profit structure removes the incentive to capture value, which is why we can be the neutral home for the ecosystem’s shared dependencies, and never compete with the builders and companies that contribute.
We started the projects, we don’t own them, and we don’t sell them. Every core project and grant we fund is released under a recognized open-source licence, no exceptions.
Bitkite
@bitkite
Co-Founder
Co-founder of Bitcoin Park, a community-supported campus in Nashville and Austin focused on grassroots freedom tech adoption, where he has spent years running world-class events at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, and AI. Bitkite brings a builder's conviction that an abundant future depends on decentralized infrastructure, community and education, not just institutions.
Econoalchemist
@econoalchemist
Co-Founder & Project Manager
Bitcoin educator, technical writer, and co-host of the POD256 podcast. Econoalchemist has spent years producing comprehensive, free guides on Bitcoin self-custody, privacy, home mining, and censorship resistance, bridging deep technical knowledge with practical accessibility. He brings the same conviction that Bitcoin infrastructure must be open and sovereign to everything the 256 Foundation builds.
Tyler Stevens
@tylerkstevens
President of the Board
Mechanical engineer, founder of Exergy, and author of the industry reference guide on Bitcoin mining heat reuse. Tyler instigated the Hashrate Heatpunks community and has focused his career at the intersection of Bitcoin and energy. He now leads the 256 Foundation in its effort to build the open-source Bitcoin mining ecosystem.
Skot
@skot9000
Secretary of the Board
Electrical engineer with years of embedded systems experience, Skot instigated the Bitaxe project - the first open-source Bitcoin ASIC miner. His efforts sparked the Open Source Miners United community and ultimately helped influence the formation of the 256 Foundation and the architecture for the Ember One project.
Joe Wood
@JoeWoodCPA
Treasurer of the Board
Licensed CPA with over sixteen years of experience across auditing, financial reporting, and accounting operations. Joe founded Satoshi Pacioli to bring that expertise to the Bitcoin industry. He brings rigorous financial oversight and deep Bitcoin conviction to the 256 Foundation board.
Help us keep every layer open.
We take money from anyone and influence from no one.
Fund the work, or reach out and get involved.