The Digital Currency Council (DCC) announced it will join 500 Startups following an investment from the prestigious accelerator and Bitcoin Opportunity Corp.

Funded by PayPal and Google alumni, the programme will see all DCC team members living in the same house for four months and attempting to complete a series of rigorous business exercises.

DCC will also receive mentoring from experts, including Sean Percival, a serial entrepreneur and former advisor at Blockchain.

In an interview with Upstart’s Michael del Castillo, founder and CEO David Berger said he hoped the programme would help turn the DCC from a certification and education startup into a cutting edge technology company.

The CEO told CoinDesk:

“We aren’t just building a business, we’re laying the groundwork for a new profession. To me, success will be when hundreds of thousands of DCC members are living fulfilling careers as digital currency professionals.”

Berger launched the DCC in September last year, following a previous round from Bitcoin Opportunity Corp and prolific angel investor Barry Silbert, in a bid to raise professional standards throughout the bitcoin industry.

“The DCC is professionalising the Bitcoin ecosystem – establishing high standards and helping its members achieve those standards. The organisation is having a significant and positive impact on the careers of its members. We’re excited to invest in the DCC and I am personally proud to be a member,” said Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG)

The news comes after 500 Startups announced that it would give $100,000 in funding to five bitcoin companies in April last year. The beneficiaries at the time included bitcoin reputation management system Bonifide.io and information and analytics service Coinalytics.

Team work image via Shutterstock.