Vitalik Buterin joins OMG to Donate $1 million towards refugee crisis in Uganda

March 29, 2018 by Ramaa Mohan

In a moment of self-consciousness, as the combined market cap of the cryptocurrency market went just above $0.5 trillion USD, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin tweeted a series of tweets about whether the crypto community had actually earned any of the appraisals that was happening. He things questioned like, the actual difference the crypto community was making to the world and how many Venezuelan people had the community saved.

A couple of months on, Buterin is heeding his own train of thought and wanting to do good, has joined OmiseGo (OMG) to donate $1 million of OMG Token directly to refugees living poverty-stricken in Uganda and Kenya.

Countries neighbouring those of South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo are facing a huge refugee crisis right now. Because of the large and ever-increasing number of refugees entering their countries in the hope of finding something better than the place they left behind, the governments of Kenya and Uganda are stretched beyond their capacity.

The people who cross over to other countries are firstly poor, secondly illegal. To legalise their moves they must do the necessary paperwork and get their legal documents in place for which they need capital. While their skill-sets and intellectual property are intact, they have no money that they can put towards integrating themselves into the fabric of a new country. Which is exactly the helpless situation that Buterin is trying to better with his donation?

OmiseGo and GiveDirectly are organisations that allow people and patrons to donate in cryptocurrencies with the assurance that all donations will directly reach the people in need. The refugee crisis that is happening across the world is one of the main issues that these organisations, along with generous patrons like Vitalik, are trying to solve.

GiveDirectly believes that the intermediaries in the foreign aid sector have historically dominated the scene and have collected money on the behalf of people but also spent it for them. The company believes that the people in need are more equipped and have more right to decide where and how they want to use their money and will find a more effective use for the money they have if given the chance.