Summary: At least 10 Bitcoin Foundation members have jumped ship following the election of one-time Disney star and Bitcoin financier Brock Pierce as the organization's new director.

The Bitcoin Foundation (TBF) is enduring a member exodus following the election of one-time Disney star and Bitcoin entrepreneur Brock Pierce as its latest director.

According to Reuters, the organization's push for widespread adoption of cryptocurrency Bitcoin has caused mutiny in the Bitcoin Foundation's camp, and at least 10 members have resigned over the new director's appointment.

The nonprofit is the closest Bitcoin has to a regulatory body. The organization uses the slogan "Freeing people to transact on their own terms," and the group's aim is to standardize, protect, and promote the use of Bitcoin worldwide. TBF is also involved in lobbying as authorities grapple with ways to control the cryptocurrency.

However, Bitcoin has received less than positive press this year. The once-dominant Bitcoin exchange on the Web, Mt. Gox, shut unexpectedly in February. The founder and CEO Mark Kapeles said the exchange had been hit by cyberattacks that caused Mt. Gox to go bankrupt, leaving thousands of investors out of pocket. Following the closure of Mt. Gox, a number of other exchanges have closed, and both Russia and China have closed the accounts of Bitcoin traders, which has severely hampered the integration of Bitcoin as a legitimate currency.

The resignation of so many members of the Bitcoin Foundation is unlikely to help matters. Within the foundation's forum, members cite a number of reasons for their departures, including Brock Pierce being associated with alleged pedophilia, detailed in lawsuits from Pierce's first company the bankrupt Digital Entertainment Network where, former employees claim, drugs were issued and Pierce pressured minors for sex.

Pierce denied these allegations, which first came to light in 2000.

One member, Patrick Alexander, writes:

This is not the direction this foundation needs to take. The foundation members need to emulate very high moral values and ethics in business and in personal dealings, especially as it involves money. So far, the track record of prominent Bitcoin Foundation members has been abysmal. I know that most foundation members are probably swell people and are not like this. However, the acts of a few have overshadowed us all unfortunately.

I no longer want to be associated with these people.

Read more:

Bitcoin Foundation suffers member exodus over new director