Crypto donations to surpass $10B in a decade: The Giving Block
The Giving Block reported that USDC accounted for 44% of the crypto donation volume on its platform in the last year, followed by ETH (24%) and BTC (17%).
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Značka: Crypto donations
Aid for Ukraine's $54M crypto fund buys vests, scopes, and UAVs
The crypto community has poured in an impressive $54 million worth of crypto funds through “Aid For Ukraine,” aimed at supporting the country’s military efforts against Russia, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister has revealed. The $54 million has been funneled in through the Ukrainian government-run initiative ‘Aid For Ukraine’, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s Twitter post on Thursday, who thanked the crypto community for their support:“Every helmet, bulletproof vest, and night vision device save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Thus, we must continue to support our defenders. Thanks so much to everyone from the crypto community for supporting Ukraine!”According to the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Aid For Ukraine’s $54 million has mostly come in the form of 10,190 Ether (ETH), worth $18.7 million, 595 Bitcoin (BTC), worth $13.9 million, Tether (USDT) worth $10.4 million and USD Coin (USDC), worth $2.2 million.The crypto payments have gone towards military equipment, hardware, and munitions, including $11.8 million worth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are typically used to spot enemy troops and direct attacks. A significant sum of the donations was also spent on armor vests at $6.9 million, along with $3.8 million on field rations, $5.2 million on anti-war media campaigns, and $5.0 million on “weapons of the [Ukraine] Ministry of Defense request”, among other military and medical accessories. With $54 M raised by @_AidForUkraine, we’ve supplied our defenders with military equipment, armor clothes, medicines and even vehicles. Thanks to the crypto community for support since the start of the full-scale invasion! Donation by donation to the big victory. Report below. pic.twitter.com/lifHAP8R4f— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) August 17, 2022“Crypto is playing a significant role in Ukraine’s defense”, said Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Alex Bornyakov on the government-tied donatiowebsite.Founder of Ukrainian-based crypto exchange KUNA Mike Chobanian added that the contributions from the crypto community have shown the impact that blockchain technology can have on nation-states, stating that it can serve as a “backbone of global security” in times of need. Aid For Ukraine works by transferring crypto into the crypto exchange FTX, which converts crypto into fiat, and is then withdrawn and transferred to the National Bank of Ukraine.Related: Ukraine has received $37M in tracked crypto donations so farBut Aid For Ukraine isn’t the only organization taking in funds to assist Ukrainian defense efforts. Reserve Fund of Ukraine, Come Back Alive, UkraineDAO and Unchain Fund have also contributed funds in the seven-figure range, although the amount of crypto-based funds they’ve taken in hasn’t been disclosed since March.
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Payment services provider Shift4 acquires The Giving Block for $54 million
According to an investor presentation published Tuesday, U.S.-based payment solutions provider Shift4 announced its acquisition of The Giving Block in cash and stock for $54 million, plus a potential earnout of up to $246 million. The Giving Block is an online platform that allows over 1,300 nonprofit organizations and charities to accept crypto donations. As told by its annual report, the organization processed $69.64 million in crypto donations, an increase of 1,558% from 2020. Out of this amount, approximately $12.3 million came from donations by nonfungible tokens, or NFT, projects. Ether (ETH) became the most-popular crypto donated for the first time, accounting for nearly half of the total volume. Last month, The Giving Block provided Cointelegraph with a sample list of six charities on the receiving end of crypto donations and how philanthropy has positively impacted such organizations. Regarding the acquisition, the team at The Giving Block wrote: “Shift4’s status as a leading payments company with over $200B in annual payments volume, plus our shared commitment to taking crypto mainstream and leading on nonprofit sector payments innovation, has given us the opportunity to have the impact on the world we began dreaming up.”Meanwhile, Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4, commented:“Shift4 will invest further in The Giving Block’s successful strategy while also pursuing a $45+ billion embedded cross-sell opportunity by bundling crypto donation capabilities with traditional card acceptance. This represents just a small portion of the $470+ billion nonprofit addressable markets that Shift4 will uniquely be able to pursue as a result of this acquisition.”The Giving Block also launched its Ukraine Emergency Response Fund last week in response to the ongoing Russian invasion. Proceeds, which can be donated via Bitcoin (BTC), ETH, and other altcoins, will go to at least 10 humanitarian relief organizations and international nonprofits.Our Ukraine Emergency Response Fund is now LIVE The nonprofits within this fund are saving lives and providing critical support on the ground to those impacted by the #Ukraine crisis. Donate #cryptocurrency to the fund now: https://t.co/4ZXGMGcrlH— The Giving Block (@TheGivingBlock) February 26, 2022
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Wiki contributors want to drop crypto donations over environmental concerns
Back in 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation started accepting crypto donations through Bitpay, but three years later, the nonprofit organization behind Wikipedia is facing pressure from contributors to disable the option over environmental concerns.A proposal submitted by Molly White (GorillaWarfare) urges the foundation to stop accepting crypto. According to White, accepting crypto does not align with Wikimedia’s commitments to making active efforts to improve environmental sustainability. White suggested that the acceptance of crypto echoes as an “endorsement of the cryptocurrency space” by Wikimedia and its members while noting that there are risks of damaging the organization’s reputation because of its continued acceptance of crypto.Discussions immediately ensued. Wiki user Gamaliel supported the proposal. “Long overdue. Accepting cryptocurrency makes a joke out of the WMF’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” they wrote.On the other hand, Wiki user ATDT says that it’s hard to believe that “continuing to accept cryptocurrency donations in 2022 is a particularly meaningful signal.” The user noted that following that train of thought, “accepting USD signals endorsement of the systems of exploitation of labor and despoliation of the natural environment that underlies global capitalism.” While there are many who oppose disabling cryptocurrency donations, they are outnumbered at the time of writing. However, the page notes that a decision will not be made based on what the majority wants. Instead, an agreement will be made depending on the merits of the arguments presented. Related: Dogecoin creator slams Mozilla for pausing crypto donations Mozilla’s decision to pause crypto donations was also cited in the discussion. Last week, Mozilla’s co-founder Jamie Zawinski publicly opposed the Mozilla Foundation’s continued acceptance of cryptocurrency donations to support their browser. After seeing a tweet that reminded users that the platform is accepting crypto, Zawinski urged the company to stop its association with “planet-incinerating Ponzi grifters.”
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Mozilla backflips on accepting crypto after ‘planet incinerating’ backlash
The Mozilla Foundation has put cryptocurrency donations on hold following a community backlash sparked by trenchant criticism from co-founder Jamie Zawinski.Last week the development company behind the Firefox browser tweeted an appeal for donations in cryptocurrency.But earlier today, Mozilla announced it had paused crypto donations due to the online discussion around crypto’s environmental impact. Last week, we tweeted a reminder that Mozilla accepts cryptocurrency donations. This led to an important discussion about cryptocurrency’s environmental impact. We’re listening, and taking action. 1/4— Mozilla (@mozilla) January 6, 2022Mozilla said it will continue to explore decentralized web technology, but will only resume crypto donations if it fits with their climate goals. It said that in the spirit of open source, Mozilla will be transparent in the review process and share constant updates. The drama began on Dec. 31st when the organization put out a call for cryptocurrency donations via the BitPay platform.The non-profit’s post attracted the disapproval of some members of its community, including Mozilla co-founder Jamie Zawinski. Although he has not been associated with Mozilla since 2000 he criticized the organization in the strongest possible terms:“Everyone involved in the project should be witheringly ashamed of this decision to partner with planet-incinerating Ponzi grifters.”In a blog published on his website on Jan. 5th Zawinski further talked about the cryptocurrency industry and what he argues is its unrealistic business model. Zawinski argue the industry manufactures pollution and turns it into money. Some members of the community called for Mozilla to delete its call for donations and to spell out how accepting crypto was in line with its mission to fight the ongoing climate crisis.Twitter user Melissa (@mcbyrne) said, “Bitcoin is bad for [the] climate,” while @seglegs questioned why Mozilla was an “enabling environmental catastrophe” by supporting crypto. Some community members pointed to a company blog about the organization’s climate commitments on Jan. 21 last year in which CEO, Mitchell Baker, is quoted talking about Mozilla’s and his commitment to protecting the environment and facing the climate crisis.According to the New York Times, Bitcoin mining consumes more than 91-terawatt hours of electricity per year — nearly 0.5% of global electricity consumption annually. Mozilla is only latest high profile example to face the ire of some users after making crypto and NFT related announcements. In recent months Ubisoft, Square Enix, Kickstarter, and Discord have all faced criticism due to the environmental effects of mining and professed concerns over crypto scams and frauds.Popular video gaming company, Square Enix, faced criticism from gamers on social media when President Yosuke Matsuda showed appreciation for blockchain gaming, NFTs, and the metaverse over the weekend. Then again, money speaks louder than keyboard warriors and his comments led to a 8% gain in share price. Related: New LGBTQ token aims for equity but raises red flags with communityGaming giant Ubisoft faced harsh criticism by its users, upon announcing the launch of in-game NFTs on Dec. 7th. Despite a significant backlash, Ubisoft will continue with its initiative in the form of dynamic NFTs with Aleph.im. Also in early December Kickstarter announced plans to develop a decentralized crowdfunding platform. Some users threatened to abandon the platform owing to the environmental impact of crypto. On Nov. 9th, Discord’s CEO, Jason Citron, shared a tweet signaling the company’s intent to allow users to connect a crypto wallet with their accounts. Users expressed their concerns and talked about the amount of energy required to process blockchain transactions and the potential for money laundering and scams in crypto and NFTs.Just two days after publishing the tweet, Citron backtracked and said the company had no current plans on integrating Web 3.0 concepts and is committed to protecting its users from fraud, spam, and scam.
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