Bitcoin Foundation hit by resignations over new director

At least 10 members of the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation have resigned over last week's election of onetime Disney child star and current Bitcoin entrepreneur and financier Brock Pierce as a new director, officials at the group said.

Some of the members cited Pierce's troubled past. That includes allegations in lawsuits from three employees of Pierce's first company, bankrupt web video business Digital Entertainment Network, that he provided drugs and pressured them for sex when they were minors.

"The allegations against me are not true, and I have never had intimate or sexual contact with any of the people who made those allegations," Pierce told Reuters via email.

Court records show 33-year-old Pierce, who played the title role in Disney's "First Kid," paid more than $21,000 to settle one employee suit, and he said others dropped their claims without money changing hands.

While Bitcoin Foundation officials played down the defections, several members who resigned from the Foundation assailed its governance track record.

"The track record of prominent Bitcoin Foundation members has been abysmal," said Patrick Alexander, a resigning Foundation member in a post on its discussion pages. "I no longer want to be associated with these people." Attempts to reach him for additional comment were unsuccessful.

Though it is highly volatile, the value of the electronic currency in existence has skyrocketed into the billions of dollars as the number of businesses accepting it has increased and investors have sought to create new ways for it to be used.

More than 1,000 Bitcoin investors, business people and enthusiasts are expected to attend the conference in Amsterdam.

The programming effort that governs how Bitcoin works is led by Gavin Andresen, who is chief scientist at the Foundation and gets a salary from it. The Foundation also plays an important role for Bitcoin in lobbying on its behalf in various jurisdiction as authorities grapple with how to police the semi-anonymous currency.

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Bitcoin Foundation hit by resignations over new director