The power of crypto — the power to help. Part II.
The future
Giving Block, the US-located crypto charity told AFP agency, that crypto donations have the potential to attract younger donors, looking to support various causes. There is also one crucial advantage of donating crypto — it is less influenced by geopolitical or macroeconomic factors. Another great thing is the speed of the transfer. Bank takes up to 24 hours for the international payment to be validated. The crypto transfer usually takes much less time, which is a commodity of extreme importance. Yet one shouldn´t forget, that there is also the dark side of things. The fact is, that cryptocurrencies are an important part of the shadow economy of Ukraine serving as a medium of exchange for online crime, tax avoidance and capital flight. It is not a surprise then, that some of the people knowing crypto well seized the opportunity to mint and market fake versions of the planned government-issued crypto in the very days of the conflict. Nevertheless, Ukraine counts on the future — its president Volodymyr Zelensky passed a law providing a legislative framework for crypto platforms and crypto users allowing them to operate in the country.
Shaking grounds
A year after Russia invaded Ukraine, countries of Turkey and Syria were struck by a 7,8 magnitude earthquake killing up to 60000 people almost instantly, injuring thousands and causing huge material losses. The number of people who perished in Turkey in one night equalled the life lost in Ukraine within 3–4 months. With time running against those caught in the rubble, the disaster left also 1,5 million people on the freezing streets, with nothing, losing their homes, relatives, and friends. Despite the National Central Bank´s ban on crypto payments in 2021, the Turkish government realizing the urgency and the extent of the disaster relaxed the regulations and approved three crypto wallets to be opened for the donations to be deposited.
The aftermath
At the same time, the massive earthquake hitting Turkey and Syria prompted a fast reaction in the crypto community. Several cryptocurrency companies — from Binance to Tether, Bitfinex, OKX and Kucoin pledged over $9 million in donations to aid the victims of disaster, followed by Avalanche Foundation donating another $1 million in AVAX tokens. The head of Binance — Zhao announced, that Binance would airdrop $100 in BNB, totalling $ 5 million to registered users in the affected regions, an act similar to the one which Binance established in the early days of the war in Ukraine for the refugees. On top of that the Binance Charity has launched a public donation address “Emergency Earthquake Appeal”, allowing individuals to send in the funds in several cryptos including BTC, ETH, BNB, BUSD, and XRP. Many non-profits turned to crypto to receive funds to aid rescue efforts and to provide relief to individuals affected by the tragic earthquake scarring the souls and the landscape of their country. At the beginning of March 2023, the amount of crypto donated via various donors exceeded the sum of $12 million. Crypto donations are sent to aid rescue, help and provide relief for victims who lost their homes, families or business. They keep people warm, fed and safe at least for some time. Perhaps this is also the partial reason, Turkey´s president Tayyip Erdogan embraced cryptocurrencies and Metaverse recently. Either way, crypto is about to stay here with us, and the opportunities it opens are immense in many ways — two major events described are prime examples of one of them.
