Donations made in cryptocurrencies are proving to be a fast and far-reaching means of providing financial aid during times of crisis, according to multiple industry players. This has proven to be the case after devastating earthquakes hit parts of Turkey and Syria in February. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that around $5.9 million of donations have been made to support relief efforts in the region in the month since the natural disaster took place. The likes of Turkey’s Ministry of Interior Earthquake Humanitarian Aid campaign, Turkish Red Crescent, Save the Children and Project Hope have received cryptocurrency-based donations. In addition, …

Ukraine has received over $70 million in the form of cryptocurrencies since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, providing the nation with military equipment and humanitarian assistance. The figures came from a Feb. 24 report by blockchain data platform Chainalysis, which found the majority of the funds to have come in the form of Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). ETH donors led the way with $28.9 million given, while donors of BTC and Tether (USDT) chipped in $22.8 million and $11.59 million respectively. Donations have also come in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), such as UkraineDAO’s auction of a …

Sergey Vasylchuk, the chief executive officer of staking provider Everstake, said the company is continuing to move forward despite the continuing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Exactly one year ago today — Feb. 24, 2022 — Russian military forces invaded many areas of Ukraine in what has become one of the biggest conflicts in modern Europe since World War II. In the last twelve months, more than 8,000 civilians have died, many Ukrainian cities have been shelled with at least one almost leveled, and the country continues to be at risk of missile attack and ground invasions. Vasylchuk said …

Lawmakers in the Kansas House of Representatives have introduced a bill proposing to amend the legislature’s rules on political campaign donations. According to the bill, no person would be allowed to make or accept crypto contributions of more than $100 for any political candidate in the state’s primary or general election. For donations under $100, the receiver would need to “immediately convert” the crypto to U.S. dollars, not use the crypto for expenditures, and not HODL the funds. The proposed bill included provisions that seemed to be aimed at mitigating foreign contributions to elections in Kansas, by requiring personal information …

Polaris Ventures, a charity created by former FTX and Alameda chief of staff Ruairi Donnelly, reportedly wants to access roughly $150 million earned from insider trading on the bankrupt exchange’s tokens. According to a Feb. 14 Wall Street Journal report, Donnelly received roughly $562,000 in salary during his time at FTX, which was converted into FTX Tokens (FTT) at a rate not yet available to the public — $0.05. The former executive reportedly ‘donated’ the tokens to Polaris Ventures, selling them in 2019 and 2020 after public trading opened at price of $1 and making millions. FTX filed for Chapter …

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has now made at least two substantial contributions to help the victims of last week’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The Turkey-Syria 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on Feb. 6. Its death toll has now risen to 33,000 — one of the nation’s worst in decades. Over the week, the Ethereum co-founder has been one of many actively donating Ethereum to support relief efforts in Turkey. His latest donation on Feb. 12 was for 50 ETH, or approximately $77,000, to Anka Relief as reported by blockchain security firm PeckShield. Anka thanked the Ethereum co-founder for his …

The devastating earthquake that hit Turkey on Feb 6 has left a trail of destruction in its wake, affecting numerous communities and individuals. In response to the tragedy, cryptocurrency exchangeBinance has announced that it will airdrop $100 USD worth of BNB tokens to all Binance users residing in regions hardest hit by the earthquake. The process of identifying eligible users will involve checking Proof of Address (POA) submissions made before February 6th in ten cities affected by the earthquake, including Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, and Osmaniye. Time to take care of our users. ❤️#Binance to …

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized finance (DeFi) are redefining how charities raise donations and distribute funds to those most in need. Through ever-evolving crypto and blockchain-related technology, crypto philanthropists told Cointelegraph that they've witnessed “new wealth distribution mechanisms" never seen before. “Philanthropy has traditionally been seen as a high-cost-of-entry, individualistic activity but with web3, collective decision-making bodies like DAOs can use tools that streamline financial coordination and encourage more participation,” explained Omar Antila, Product Lead at Crypto for Charity. “Crypto enables new innovative fundraising strategies, like charitable NFT-drop campaigns, or allowing people to pool their crypto …

FTX's new management is seeking to recover millions of dollars in donations made by the crypto exchange and its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, reports the Wall Street Journal. At the end of September, FTX's charity arm, Future Fund, had committed more than $160 million to more than 110 nonprofit organizations, including biotech startups and university researchers developing Covid-19 vaccines and working on pandemic studies, as well as nonprofit organizations in India, China and Brazil. As per the report, Future Fund committed $3.6 million to AVECRIS, a company working on a genetic vaccine platform, and another $5 million were donated to …

The United States Federal Election Commission (FEC) has issued an advisory opinion stating DataVault Holdings may use nonfungible tokens for fundraising efforts. In a Dec. 15 notice, the FEC said it was “permissible” for DataVault holdings to send nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, to political campaign contributors without violating rules on corporate contributions. According to the election agency, DataVault will receive “reasonable compensation” for each NFT issued to contributors, as well as track all tokens issued for its own records. “The Commission concludes that DataVault’s proposals to provide political committees with NFTs on the same terms that it regularly offers its …

Before its downfall, crypto exchange FTX and its then-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had been some of the most prolific spenders in the space, bailing out crypto firms and donating to political campaigns and media outlets. With more than 1 million FTX creditors looking to be made whole, what’s happening with these funds? Bankman-Fried said in May he had been willing to donate between $100 million and $1 billion to lawmakers as part of elections in 2024. Bloomberg reported on Dec. 12 — hours before SBF’s arrest in The Bahamas — that the total donations could be at least $73 million, given …

The prosecutors investigating former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) have reportedly reached out to top members of the Democratic Party demanding information about the political donations made by the entrepreneur. Democratic members from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries were contacted by SBF prosecutors for information to aid their ongoing investigations, according to a New York Times report. The United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York sent an email to the Democratic Party elections lawyer Marc Elias, asking for details on donations made by SBF. Similar emails …