Re: I just paid the $100K USD via BTC to become a Platinum Member of TBF.
AFAIK, no one has been able to prove anyone has paid a membership fee...the foundation doesn't publish a privacy violating list of payers / identities & addresses...duh. The expectation that large membership fees would be paid in a single tx is a bit misguided, imho.
Well, I had understood that they promised to accept donations only through a specific address, precisely so that everybody could check their accounting.
But that is indeed an interesting philosophical question: how can we get to trust a Foundation devoted to the cause of a trustless anonymous payment system.
The question is, why do we need a foundation and what has having one done for Bitcoin? Look at the bylaws of the foundation. Specifically, the permanent founding members list. Do you trust an organization with members that can't be removed?