Binance, the world’s largest exchange, has committed to an act of philanthropy, with this coming in the form of donating $1 million U.S. to victims of the Japanese floods. The floods have already killed over one hundred civilians so far, with many speculating that there are still over fifty missing.
Shinzo Abe, Japanese PM stated:
We are working against time. There are still many people missing and others in need of help,
According to BBC, western Japan has been seeing record levels of rainfall, with some areas receiving as much rain they would see in months in only a few days. Japanese authorities have ordered over two million people to evacuate the affected area as water begins to run through the streets.
Chengpang Zhao, Binance’s CEO, took to Twitter to express condolences to the victims, he wrote:
Our hearts go out to the victims in West Japan. @binance will begin with a $1,000,000 USD equivalent donation in either BNB, BTC, or JPY. We also ask our crypto partners to join us and help our friends in need.
CZ, as he is called by the crypto community, also encouraged others to make a donation to the cause, in the form of sending ETH or ERC-20 tokens to a specific address.
https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1015774097148665857
Binance’s CEO also noted that projects looking for a Binance listing may receive “bonus points” for future listing requests. Additionally, CZ went out to say that exchange might even count donations towards the reportedly exorbitant listing fee.
It is currently unclear what the exact logistic scheme of the donation plan will entail, but it was made clear that the Binance team is working on a viable way to deliver the funds in collaboration with “local authorities.”
Some found it odd that Binance only offered an Ethereum address for donations, but others thought that it only made sense, as a number of projects on Binance are Ethereum-based.
As of the time of press, the wallet given is filled with over 190 Ether, valued at over $95,000, along with over $1.04 million in a variety of ERC-20 tokens. With these donations, Binance has already surpassed its goal of $1 million, but many hope for the continued success of the charity campaign.
Crypto and Charity: Is It A Growing Theme?
Despite the tribalism and individuality of many cryptocurrency investors, influencers and projects, the charity space around this industry has grown tremendously
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, stated in a Medium blog post:
Cryptocurrency has produced a handful of billionaires already, and I suspect it may produce the world’s first trillionaires in the next decade. The Forbes list of wealthiest people is going to be shaken up by early digital currency holders.
It would only make sense for influential cryptocurrency players to start making an impact on the philanthropy space. In a recent announcement, Armstrong mentioned that he will be starting the ‘GiveCrypto‘ charity, aimed at supporting the impoverished through cryptos.
The CEO noted that the power of using a crypto-backed charity fund lies in the substantial growth potential, increase in adoption rates and most importantly, the appeal of a technological world. The fund has already garnered over $5 million from a variety of high profile cryptocurrency players, including the CEO of Ripple, ZCash, and BitMEX.
In other news, the Pineapple Fund, started by a Bitcoin early adopter, recently cleaned out its fund pool, donating over 5104 Bitcoin to over sixty of honorable causes.
The anonymous founder of the Pineapple Fund wrote:
Pineapple Fund was an experiment in philanthropy with cryptocurrency wealth. What happens when your ‘play-money’ becomes a treasure chest, and you’re past the satiety point of money?
Many believe that the generosity that has been seen in the cryptocurrency space with continue, with charities like GiveCrypto, The Pineapple Fund, and the most recent Binance donation showing the willingness of the community to give and a lot at that.
