Top Milestones in Crypto Philanthropy
From the beginning to now: a timeline of crypto giving
Crypto has only been around for just over a decade. Yet in its short period of existence it has had a remarkable impact on people everywhere. Digital tokens have actually saved lives and helped people in need. Here are some of the most notable milestones in crypto so far.
2009
Bitcoin was born, the very first cryptocurrency transaction took place and bitcoin mining began in earnest.
2012
Coinbase, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and a publicly listed company with the US stock exchange was founded in 2012.
2013
BitGive was founded, the very first US registered bitcoin nonprofit. Started by Connie Gallippi a professional from the nonprofit space, she was early to recognize the potential of crypto for social good. BitGive’s goal is to use bitcoin and its blockchain technology to make an impact in the humanitarian and environmental areas.
2015
Ethereum, the world’s most actively used blockchain went live in 2015. ETH, its native currency is the second largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin.
2017
An anonymous bitcoin holder created Pineapple Fund and donated 5104 BTC (USD 55 million) to 60 charities. Probably the very first cryptocurrency donation made by someone who got wealthy with crypto. The donor describes Pineapple Fund as an experiment in philanthropy with cryptocurrency wealth.
2018
Ripple, a US based cryptocurrency company donated USD 29 million of its own cryptocurrency XPR to DonorsChoose.org. It was then the largest cryptocurrency donation ever. The donation enabled Donorschoose.org to completely fund all of their 35,000 classroom projects listed on their site. Donorschoose.org is a crowdfunding platform for teachers of US public schools to raise money to fulfill their classroom requirements.
2017
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange for traders was founded in Hong Kong with the goal to give. The founder, Sam Bankman-Fried is a believer in effective altruism, an impact focused approach to giving. FTX does that by donating to the world’s most effective charities. FTX, its affiliates, and its employees have donated over $10m to nonprofits such as Give Well, OpenAI, The Human League and Effective Altruism. In 2020 FTX committed to pledge 1% of their revenue to social good and started the FTX Foundation
2018
Brian Armstrong founder of Coinbase launches GiveCrypto, a new charitable organization that accepts and distributes cryptocurrency directly to people living in poverty.
2019
BitGive launches GiveTrack, a crowdfunding platform for nonprofits to raise donations in bitcoin.
2020
Coinbase launches Coinbase Giving committing 1% of Coinbase profits, equity, and employee time towards charitable activities that leverage the power of crypto to help people around the world. Coinbase Giving is the charitable program within the company.
2021
2021 can be described as the biggest year in crypto philanthropy so far
NFTs exploded in popularity in 2021 and with it began a new way of raising funds for causes. Jack Dorsey sold his very first tweet as an NFT and donated 100% of the proceeds from the sale to GiveDirectly. Edward Snowden raised money for his charity through the auction of “Stay Free” NFT. Noora Health is the very first nonprofit that created an NFT and raised funds to support their life saving initiatives in the area of maternal and infant health in South Asia.
Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, donated an insane $1 billion to India’s Crypto Covid Relief Fund. This is by far the largest donation ever made in the short history of crypto. Vitalik also donated large sums of crypto to other charities, $54 million to Give Well, Charter Cities Institute, Methuselah Foundation and few others.
Vitalik has been an active donor since 2017 but some of his largest donations were made in 2021. His giving has been in the areas of scientific research, life extension and longevity. He’s passionate about creating public good and often invests in areas that are related to large scale good of humanity.
India’s Crypto Covid Relief Fund is the very first relief fund of its type. The fund was started by folks from the crypto community to provide life saving supplies to Indians suffering from the highly contagious COVID strain. The fund was completely led by volunteers and received enormous support from the crypto communities all over the world. The fund has raised close to 1.50 billion and has set an excellent blueprint for future volunteer led crypto fundraising campaigns.
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