Bobby Lee and Brock Pierce have joined the Bitcoin Foundation’s board of directors, after coming top in a second round of votes cast by the organisation’s industry members.
The run-off election featured three candidates, including BTC China CEO Bobby Lee, venture capitalist Brock Pierce and CEO of mobile gift card provider Gyft, Vinny Lingham. The results were particularly close, with Lee receiving 79% approval and Pierce scoring 65% – just 2% above Lingham, who received 63%.
With the announcement, Lee and Pierce join a board that includes executive director Jon Matonis, bitcoin chief scientist Gavin Andresen, Bitcoin Magazine’s Elizabeth Ploshay and Ribbit Capital’s Micky Malka, alongside founder and chairman Peter Vessenes.
This news follows the 1st May results of an initial round of voting, which ended with none of the original 15 candidates reaching the necessary vote threshold to win a seat.
These industry seats have been vacant since the resignation of two founding members – former BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem and Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles – earlier this year.
China’s outspoken CEO
Lee has been one of the more outspoken voices from China’s bitcoin community internationally, appearing in notable Western media outlets including Businessweek and Wired.
His company is one of the oldest Chinese bitcoin exchanges and the former market leader, though it has seen increased competition from Huobi and OKCoin, the latter of which is now the country’s largest digital currency exchange.
The CEO’s appointment comes at a time when the Bitcoin Foundation is putting an emphasis on bolstering perception of bitcoin internationally, most recently anointing Mexico’s Fundación Satoshi Nakamoto as its third official affiliate chapter.
Serial entrepreneur
A former child star who appeared in the classic US film ‘The Mighty Ducks’, Pierce has more recently gained credibility in the investment world, where he leads a successful bitcoin-focused AngelList syndicate.
Pierce has helped found GoCoin, ExpressCoin, KnCMiner and Robocoin Asia, and recently launched a plan to save the now-bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.
That plan passed a key hurdle yesterday when it was approved by a US court.
Under the proposal, former users of the exchange would receive equity in a new Mt. Gox that would provide restitution for funds lost in the original exchange’s insolvency.
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