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Rainforest Foundation Uses Crypto to Protect the Brazilian Amazon

The Rainforest Foundation, founded in 1987, reached out to the cryptocurrency community to ask for their support to fight Brazil’s forest fires.

An announcement was made regarding a campaign to fight against the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon with the aid of the cryptocurrency community. The Rainforest Foundation has developed its own crypto – Bitseed in 2014 and has been embracing cryptocurrencies for years.

According to the Rainforest Foundation, the number of forest fires is up 278% from July 2018. The Rainforest Foundation has been seeking funding continuously of up to $100 million to combat deforestation.

The announcement also stated:

“Since Bolsonaro took office in January, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is up 75%, and forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon have doubled compared to the past year. As guardians of our rainforests, its animals and its people, we are working with The Giving Block to form a coalition of crypto sponsors, donors and media partners who will help stop this devastation.”

The Foundation currently accepts donations in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. They are also looking for crypto communities to sponsor projects and raise awareness.

English musician Sting is also one of the founders of the Rainforest Foundation and is currently working on a blockchain project to provide transparency for donors to track the work done by the foundation in the Amazon rainforest. The local communities that protect their rainforests will be rewarded with crypto.

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Alibaba Moves to Expand Its Scope For Its Blockchain-powered Charity Project

Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba the e-commerce giant is making efforts to increase the scope and accelerate its charity project which happens to be a blockchain initiative.

Alibaba announced that it will make use of blockchain to protect third parties who donate money to charity. The project was revealed last summer with Ant Love, Ant Financial’s charity arm in charge.

The company also said that it was making use of this technology in order to ensure that transparency is brought into the system. The platform was specifically designed to increase the level of access into information such as disclosure of charity, histories of donors, and other necessary details needed to make this quest achievable.

The CTO of Ant Financial, Cheng Li told Bloomberg, “We hope to bring more transparency to charity and blockchain technology’s decentralized nature fits that purpose well. It means that all the information and transaction history of funds will be more reliable and can’t be easily tampered with.”

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Ant Financial also has the intention of bringing in more companies, donor organizations, media groups as we as other charity organizations.

Judging by the scope of Alipay, Alibaba’s e-payment platform, the project is said to be a very notable one, with over 450 million users recorded as last year and the worldwide influence which Alibaba holds.

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Coinbase Partners with DustAid for Crypto Donations During Christmas

In a recent blog post, Coinbase announced its charitable endeavors to help DustAid by allowing its customers to donate Crypto to three other charities, during the Christmas period. DustAid is an organization that supports projects globally. The partnership will give way to Coinbase users within the UK to donate crypto to important causes promoted by organizations such as NSPCC, a British children’s charity that keeps young people away from abuse as well as the Little Edi Foundation, which supports and provides grants to rural communities in Romania, which are struggling, and Space for Giants, who endeavor to protect the future of elephants and their habitat.

Louise Corden, the Lead Digital Producer for NSPCC, adds, “Raising funds via cryptocurrency highlights how the NSPCC is continually exploring new ways to enable people to donate to the charity and contribute to our fight for every childhood. We are really grateful for the backing we have received from DustAid and Coinbase, and we now hope that users of cryptocurrency go to their platforms to make a festive donation to Childline.”

In addition, the managing director also believes in the meaningful impact blockchain technology can have on people, on a global scale. To quote, “DustAid’s mission is to make giving a simple, easy, and transparent part of our daily lives. We are really proud to be working with leading organizations like Coinbase and NSPCC to make this a reality and to help children be heard this Christmas.”

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It is the Season of Giving! Binance Charity is Giving Back with TravelBit's Partnership

Christmas is around the corner. In the spirit of giving back to the community, Binance Charity is continuously working to build blockchain-based solutions to resolve issues on social problems and the opportunity for people to get out of poverty. A widely discussed advantage of blockchain technology is how charities can show more transparency with the donations they receive. Hence, the partnership between TravelBit and Binance Charity will allow travelers to donate to the ‘Binance Lunch for Children’ project while booking flights or hotels on the TravelBit website.

Helena Hai, the head of Binance Charity, states, “We are very pleased to have TravelbyBit’s support to the vulnerable people via our blockchain-based charity solution, Donations through the platform will be ensured with full transparency, accountability, and direct reach to end recipients. Technology should work for people; the collaboration with TravelbyBit is demonstrating the industry’s effort to use technology to shape a future that works for all of us by putting people first and empowering them.”

In addition to this, Caleb Yeoh, the CEO of TravelBit, affirms that “Permissionless cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin provide anyone with the basic right to transact freely. TravelbyBit is one of the first online travel booking platforms that provide travelers with cryptocurrency payment options, introducing a solid use case for the digital asset…”

Just before this announcement, a similar partnership was formed between Coinbase and DustAid to allow crypto users within the UK to donate to charitable organizations, read more about it here.

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Binance Continues to Show Support for Measures Against the Coronavirus

With over a month gone since the outbreak of the now dreaded coronavirus, charity organizations, social groups have been credited with the progress being made to contain the spread of the disease. Thanks to the efforts of the Chinese government, multiple provinces and cities have recorded no increase in the number of people infected.

Meanwhile, a report on exchange giant Binance’s blog post shows that the second phase of “Binance for Wuhan” donation has been concluded. It was stated that as of March 9, another 6 batches of medical supplies were delivered to 136 hospitals, medical teams, and disease control command centers.

The shipment included protective suits from Israel and the United Arab Emirates, oxygen machines, gloves, and protective goggles.

A quick breakdown of the relief materials to combat the disease

An estimated 2,300 protective suits purchased from Israel have been dispatched to 23 hospitals or medical teams.1,000 protective suits bought from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were also distributed to 16 hospitals or medical teams. The donation also includes 388 oxygen machines to Guangdong Zhong Nanshan Medical Foundation. The final records of the distribution show that all they are dispatched to 44 hospitals which included 133,000 pieces of PVC gloves and 10,000 pairs of protective goggles.

Crypto space stakeholders in the fight against coronavirus

According to the blog post, with various humanitarian efforts, there has been a decrease in the number of newly infected cases and an increase in the number of patients cured. Progress has been made in the battle against the virus, although the war is not yet over and Binance Charity has promised to continue to be a helping hand until the situation is under total control.

As previously reported by Blockchain.News, Syren Johnstone said that a private blockchain network would “enable the recording and tracking of anything that is donated, from donation dollars to N95 masks.” By holding the person or organization accountable, donations for delivery could be tracked from the donor all the way to its final-use. Blockchain would also enable transparency for the general public to understand how their donations have been used and its progress. While a private blockchain is strictly controlled, it can also allow for public transparency for donors and donees, as well as authorities.

Blue Cross Asia Pacific Insurance, a subsidiary of the Bank of East Asia has been shortening the time spent on data verification. Its blockchain-based platform, which is able to handle more than 1,000 concurrent transactions in one second without human interaction has been helping to ease pressure on healthcare services in Hong Kong.

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Binance Launches 'Crypto Against COVID' Charity Project To Fight Global Pandemic

On March 25, Binance in its blog post announced the launch of its new fundraising project titled ‘Crypto Against COVID’ which aims to raise $5 million in cryptocurrencies. The funds will be used to buy medical equipment for the countries worst affected by Coronavirus.

“Binance will be leading this effort with an initial donation of $1 million USD, and commits to donating up to $2 million USD through the #CryptoAgainstCOVID social media campaign,” according to the Binance blog.

At the time of the campaign launch the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had exceeded 300,000 worldwide. The demographics of the virus have expanded across 175 countries and territories with more than 14,750 deaths reported so far. These numbers were reported on March 23, 2020, by WHO.

Some of the worst-hit countries by this deadly Coronavirus are Italy, Spain, China, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Iran, Turkey, the UK, and the USA. And these are the countries where Binance will be spending most of the charity funds to supply medical equipment. The platform has confirmed that they will be posting all the donation transaction details to ensure full transparency.

And this is not the first time when Binance has shown its philanthropic trait. In January 2020, Binance had launched another campaign with the title ‘Binance for Wuhan’ and donated $1.4 million worth of medical supplies to China.

“The crypto community is a growing force and we have an opportunity to strengthen this through philanthropy. We encourage the community to take part in this initiative as we unite against COVID-19, and together, we’ll drive impact,” said Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance.

According to the blog post, Binance Charity has delivered 56,800 masks, 366,000 pairs of gloves, 9 sterilizers, 5,280 bottles of hand sanitizers, 7,850 protective suits, 20,000 testing kits, 20,000 pairs of Goggles, 173 barrels of disinfectants and 388 oxygen concentrators.

These medical supplies have been delivered to more than 300 hospitals in China including Hubei, Guangxi, Shanghai, Sichuan, and other Chinese cities.

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Tencent Uses Blockchain in Annual "99 Giving Day" Charity Campaign

Chinese tech giant Tencent, the owner of China’s messaging platform WeChat, has disclosed the use of blockchain technology in its annual internet charity campaign dubbed “99 Giving Day.” The aim is to foster transparency in philanthropic drives and enhance data traceability.

Boosting the public welfare sector

Tencent seeks to set the ball rolling by enhancing sustainable development in the public welfare arena using blockchain. This cutting-edge technology is expected to propel transparency, inclusion, and public participation in the firm’s fundraising projects taking place in the three-day online charity campaign that kicked off on September 7.

The secretary-general of Tencent Charity Foundation, Ge Yan, expressed her confidence in the blockchain-powered philanthropic drive.

She said:

“Tencent has extensive experience in the application of blockchain technology, such as in the tax field. Blockchain has the power to make public welfare initiatives more transparent and more digitized. There is no need to worry about issues like data tampering.”

Blockchain is the icing on the cake

This year’s online charity campaign marks the sixth one, and the firm seeks to have a more transparent drive with the help of blockchain as it connects hundreds of thousands of enterprises, NGOs, and other players.

In the current climate, the social welfare sector is more important than ever as people continue supporting each other and holding together to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Tencent intends to bail out public welfare organizations with 200 million yuan, approximately $29.2 million.

This is in plan with its commitment to invest 500 billion yuan, nearly $70 billion, in the next five years in emerging technologies like cloud computing, blockchain, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Tencent is emerging as a notable pacesetter in the Chinese technological landscape because it recently created an industrial alliance to spearhead the development of a standardization framework for blockchain technology.

Bitcoin Water Trust Receives Over $1.3M BTC Donations For Charity within Three Weeks

The famous New York-based non-profit organization “Charity: water” has recently introduced the Bitcoin Water Trust establishment during the 2021 Miami Bitcoin Conference. The trust fund has received worth more than $1.3 million BTC donations within three weeks of the trust’s launch.

“Charity: water” is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 that aims to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

The Bitcoin Water Trust aims to directly bring drinking water to places currently inaccessible to solve the global water crisis.

In order to draw greater attention from potential investors, the Bitcoin water trust established a new charity model called “HODL MODL”, which means “hold on for dear life”. The institution also announced that Gemini’s cryptocurrency wallet would accept Bitcoin donations and continue this campaign until 2025. It intends to influence the use of Bitcoin will have a more significant impact on the future. By investing in future capital, Bitcoin is investing in clean drinking water in the next few years.

According to the charity’s website, a total of 32.5949 BTC has been donated so far, which is equivalent to more than $1.3 million at current prices.

An official blog published by the US cryptocurrency exchange Gemini on June 14 stated that:

“This new charity model — the HODL MODL — creates a new paradigm for charitable giving. It brings the HODL ethos of Bitcoin to charitable giving, and means your bitcoin donation today could make an even bigger impact tomorrow.”

“We’re thrilled to help a fellow mission-driven organization like charity: water accept bitcoin and maximize its humanitarian efforts,” the post added.

Currently, approximately 785 million people worldwide cannot access purified water. Co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have pledged to match the first 50 BTC donated to the Bitcoin Water Trust to provide clean water for approximately 50,000 people. Although this move can only help a small part of the world’s people get clean water, they believe that it will have a more significant impact on the people who could not access clean water through this trust. The institution also plans to spend Bitcoin in 2025 or build clean water projects with more than 20 countries or regions.

Scott Harrison, CEO of charity: water, also revealed that:

“We’ve been encouraged by the overwhelming support we have seen already for the Bitcoin Trust Initiative. By establishing this trust, we aim to harness the transformational power of this generational digital technology to make a lasting social impact, and in the process to provide a potential model for other charities who are working to do the same.”

In recent months, since Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin donated more than $1.5 billion, the charity has become a hot topic in the crypto industry.

Russian Canadian programmer and co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has donated a large chunk of his crypto holdings to fund various charity organizations. In total, Buterin transferred 660 billion SHIB, 140 billion AKITA, 43 billion ELON, and 15,719 ETH to the India-based Covid-19 relief fund.

Pope Francis’s Pontifex Carpet Gift Sold as NFT for Charity Purpose in Afghanistan

A Pontifex carpet gifted to Pope Francis by Sheikh Mohamad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, during his visit to the Vatican in September 2016, was sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) for 25 Eths, approximately $81,886 on January 14.

The original carpet, 272cm x 183cm, is woven by Afghan women, the physical version of the Pontifex carpet remains with Pope Francis at present. Zuleya, a retail arm of the Fatima Bint Mohamed bin Zayed Initiative, created a replica measuring 187cm x 125cm to be presented to anyone who buys it as an NFT.

The proceeds are to be channelled for a good cause of helping needy families in Afghanistan based on the challenge of harsh winter, according to local media outlet Khaleej Times.

Musfir Khawaja, the co-founder of nftOne, welcomed this move and stated:

“This is perhaps the most iconic NFT to be sold in the Middle East. The buyer will get the physical replica of the carpet besides an ornate gold frame on a 165cm digital canvas with the NFT loaded on it.”

The chief executive of the initiative, Maywand Jabarkhyl, believed that NFTs would be a game-changer in offering a crucial step forward of opening new revenue streams for Afghan artisans by presenting a larger global audience.

With NFTs being among the trendy digital assets, their total sales reached $25 billion in 2021, as reported by Blockchain.News. Furthermore, their market capitalization stood at $31.6 billion at the close of last year.

The proof of ownership guaranteed by NFTs is one of the factors making them tick. For instance, Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary, recently aired his bullish sentiments by stating that NFTs had a more prominent shot of surpassing Bitcoin because they can digitally show ownership of real-world things.

With NFTs being non-divisible and finite, these characteristics are creating their intrinsic value.

Nestle Rolls Out First NFTs in the Middle East & North Africa for a Humanitarian Cause

Nestle, a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate, has launched an exclusive limited series of two non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called TRIX Globe for a charitable cause in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA).

To commemorate the rollout of the TRIX Breakfast Cereal brand in MENA, Nestle released the NFTs on Opensea.io, with bidding running from March 18 to May 13. The proceeds will go to charity.

Emilien Mesquida, the Business Executive Officer Cereal Partners Worldwide, Middle East & North Africa, said:

“In line with our promise for ‘Better Lives’, we are proud to launch the first blockchain-based initiative in the region aimed towards a humanitarian cause with full proceeds of the TRIX NFTs auction going to the Emirates Red Crescent.”

With TRIX being a heritage breakfast cereal brand intended to ‘put the fun back into breakfast,’ Nestle wants to become more innovative by incorporating NFTs.

Bahaa Boulmona, the Brand Manager Cereal Partners Worldwide, Middle East & North Africa, noted:

“We are excited to announce that TRIX® is the first and only breakfast cereal brand in the world to have launched its own NFT series – showcasing how daring and adaptable our brands are.”

Despite NFTs being relatively new in the crypto space, it continues to take the world by storm based on the substantial trading volume and adoption witnessed.

For instance, market insight provider IntoTheBlock recently pointed out that the total volume traded by NFTs recently surpassed 18 million ETH, with the aggregate value topping $54 billion.

Furthermore, the NFT trading volume grew exponentially from the start of the year, rising by more than 220%.

Therefore, more brands are jumping on the NFT bandwagon, for instance, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor became the first automaker to offer community-based non-fungible tokens.