Major Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk has joined the Crypto Patent Alliance (COPA) to work with prominent companies on its mission to provide open access to patents and enable adoption of crypto technologies.
COPA aims to eliminate patents as they are seen as an obstacle to innovations within the sector. The nonprofit prefers a more community approach when it comes to intellectual property. Its members include notable crypto companies such as notable companies such as Coinbase, Block, and Aquarius.
Aside from the original crypto companies, companies like MicroStrategy and Meta also joined COPA. The companies have pledged to keep public patents on cryptography and blockchain technology to keep them accessible to the public.
According to Ozgur Guneri, CEO of BtcTurk, as a way to improve the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the company has decided to join COPA and donate some funds to the non-profit to help its work. Güneri explained that the nonprofit plays an important role in protecting the technologies within cryptography, especially with Bitcoin (BTC).
In addition, the CEO of the exchange also indicated that BtcTurk will collaborate with COPA on other aspects of their initiatives. This includes participation in their judicial processes and being open to requests from nonprofit organizations.
Ayça Aktolga Öztürk, BtcTurk’s chief legal advisor, also commented on the matter, saying that the exchange would support COPA in standing up against “patent trolls,” or those who maliciously use patent laws and legislative protection as leverage. The CEO expressed his enthusiasm to work with COPA and support the ecosystem as a whole.
Related: Sharing crypto patents is a step in democratizing knowledge ownership
In 2020, Block, Inc. COPA to aggregate blockchain and crypto patents into a single library to ensure open access to technologies developed by member companies. The alliance recognized that cryptocurrency adoption is still in its early stages and that its success depends on the community’s efforts to develop on top of current technologies.
