The crypto community is rallying together to raise funds to support the coronavirus victims in Wuhan, China. Some of the top cryptocurrency and blockchain firms are spearheading these charitable efforts.
Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has pledged a donation of 10 million Chinese Yuan ($1.5 million) to the cause. The company’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), explained via a tweet that Binance choose to make the donation in the local fiat currency as it was deemed more suitable given the circumstances. This was after one Twitter user had tagged the CEO in relation to a news article claiming that the charitable cause was accepting crypto donations. CZ also stated that the company had not made an official announcement about the donation while stating that the company has been actively involved in helping the victims.
For #Wuhan, not realistic to do crypto to end beneficiaries. Binance pledged 10m RMB ($1.5m USD) to help #coronavirus victims. We didn’t make any announcements. But [Binance Charity Foundation] BCF/Binance team has been busy for the last few days. Still need help to arrange logistics locally
Besides Binance, another blockchain firm has confirmed their involvement in the charitable cause. Krypital, a blockchain marketing service company announced on WeChat that they had launched donation efforts to help in procuring medical supplies for the coronavirus victims in Wuhan. The company revealed that its donation system is blockchain-based which ensures transparency and greater efficiency. Consequently, the firm is taking donations in Tether (USDT), a stablecoin based on the Ethereum blockchain.
Krypital has reportedly donated $30,000 to the relief efforts. The firm is currently recruiting volunteers to help in administration, procurement, logistics, transportation, and media campaign for the cause. However, according to Matthew Graham the CEO of Sino Global Capital, there is no clear way of independently verifying the use of the funds donated through Krypital’s relief initiative.
The news about these donations will come as a welcome relief as the Chinese government is struggling to control the spread of the disease that has seen 56 lose their lives and thousands others reportedly infected.
The blockchain firms involved in the relief effort will also be hoping that their contributions will be impactful in containment of the disease and return of some normalcy in the markets. Bitcoin has been trading sideways for quite some time and fell 6% on the Chinese New Year with uncertainty rising in the country following the spread of the coronavirus.
Image courtesy of DLG Images on Flickr
Don’t worry, we hate spam too
one weekly digest, just the important stuff.
