Hip-Hop singer Jay-Z and Block CEO Jack Dorsey are teaming up to announce the launch of “The Bitcoin Academy”, a financial education program that will be free for residents living at the Marcy Houses, a public housing complex in Brooklyn, and the childhood home of the rapper Jay-Z.

According to its official website, “the Bitcoin Academy is currently focused on Marcy Houses, but we hope to expand to other neighborhoods soon. Those participating in the program will receive MiFi devices and a one-year limited data plan, plus smartphones if needed. Residents may keep the devices.”

The program will be offered both in-person and online to adults and children aged between five and seventeen from June to September, and attendees will be served dinner after in-person lectures. Crypto expert Najah J. Roberts of Crypto Blockchain Plug, and software developer Lamar Wilson from Black Bitcoin Billionaire will be leading this educational course.

Dorsey’s online payments firm ‘Block’ (formerly ‘Square’) is also providing additional grants and on-ground support for this initiative.

Jack Dorsey said the Bitcoin Academy said it aims to “provide education, empower the community with knowledge” about how to manage their finances with a focus on Bitcoin — which the website describes as the “future of money.” 

Dorsey and Jay-Z said they wanted to educate residents about Bitcoin after seeing how the cryptocurrency became a “critical tool for many in Africa and Central and South America.” Because the digital asset “doesn’t have barriers,” the pair launched the program to “prove that making powerful tools more available to people enables them to build greater independence.”