A new cryptocurrency-based charity hopes to give money to the poor who do not have access to banking or financial services. Is it feasible?
Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, announced his new crypto charity organization in a Medium post[1] on Wednesday. The charity, named GiveCrypto.org, is intended to "financially empower people by distributing cryptocurrency globally."
The group hopes to raise funds from cryptocurrency holders and help those in need by dispensing small amounts of the digital assets to the world's impoverished, directly to their crypto wallets. Armstrong reports that the charity has already raised approximately $3.5 million, though the first million came out of the founder's pocket. Donations[2] of at least $1 million have come from Chris Larsen, executive chair at Ripple[3], and Zooko Wilcox, CEO of Zcash[4]; smaller donations have come from many different holders and leaders in the industry.
In the blog post, Armstrong states that the inspiration for the charity came after reading Satoshi's white paper on Bitcoin, which made him realize the ability of cryptocurrency to "bank the unbanked" and "bring economic freedom to people all over the world."
Armstrong explained the very basics of how he expects the charity will work:
"We'll start with direct-cash transfers in the form of cryptocurrency. An increasing body of evidence[5] shows[6] direct-cash transfers are a very effective form of giving, as they increase people's income, boost food consumption and dietary diversity, and are tied to improved school attendance, health care visits, household savings, and investments in productive assets."
The charity has decided to dispense cryptocurrency rather than fiat money because of the digital assets' ability to be sent in small qualities, in real time, and directly to those in need
