Crypto Donations for Turkey and Syria: how the crypto community is responding to the emergency
A week has passed since the disastrous earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. On the night between 5th and 6th February 2023, strong seismic tremors hit the southern region of Turkey and the northern region of Syria.
Hundreds of buildings have collapsed and now thousands of people are sadly dead, injured or missing. The numbers are constantly increasing and unfortunately over 30,000 deaths are estimated in the two countries. Internationally the relief machine was immediately set in motion and the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele was one of the first to make men and means available to assist the affected populations.
The crypto community has also taken immediate action, as already happened with the second wave of the Covid-19 virus in India in 2021 and the invasion of Ukraine last year. CZ has announced support from Binance.
Binance has activated its Binance Charity channel which can be reached here, to which you can donate instantly. The exchange led by CZ also announced the possibility of receiving $100 (1883 TRY) via Airdrop for users of those areas affected by the earthquake.
Vitalik Buterin donated 99 ETH. Bitget has committed 1 million Turkish Lira.
Gate.io and Bitfinex have also announced initiatives. OKX announced aid of 1 million Turkish Lira. Huobi also participates in the fundraising, which together with Tron has announced a 2 million Turkish Lira fund to immediately help the affected populations and also to start the reconstruction. Also part of the solidarity fundraising is BitMEX, which announced the allocation of all the proceeds of the Trading Competition of the week to the Red Crescent of Turkey and invited who can donate to do the same.
Bybit also announced the donation of $100,000 to AFAD Turkey (Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency).
In Turkey, a petition put together by companies in the crypto and Blockchain industry started immediately. The petition calls for the creation of official cryptocurrency wallets for fundraising and their sharing through official government channels. Turkish rock star Haluk Levent launched a fundraising on his Twitter collecting donations in stablecoins raised on the AVAX, BSC and ETH blockchains. All the addresses had been approved by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) because cryptocurrency payments were banned in the country in 2021. Turkish exchange Paribu is also raising funds.
I didn’t find much about cryptocurrency donations that can be directed to Syrians. Despite being a country affected by economic sanctions, we don’t care. Cryptocurrencies are borderless and help everyone. One organization that also helps Syria is The Giving Block. It is located in Miami, Florida and it is possible to make a donation to the Syria and Turkey Earthquake Response Fund to support organizations that provide food, shelter, and other lifesaving supplies.
There are many possibilities to donate on the internet but make donations to the subjects I mentioned above or only those approved by the authorities on their official channels. Always check carefully before making your donation. Do not give your money to scammers who take advantage of these tragedies to get rich. Never give up Turks and Syrians, the whole world is with you!!
Hundreds of buildings have collapsed and now thousands of people are sadly dead, injured or missing. The numbers are constantly increasing and unfortunately over 30,000 deaths are estimated in the two countries. Internationally the relief machine was immediately set in motion and the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele was one of the first to make men and means available to assist the affected populations.
The crypto community has also taken immediate action, as already happened with the second wave of the Covid-19 virus in India in 2021 and the invasion of Ukraine last year. CZ has announced support from Binance.
Binance has activated its Binance Charity channel which can be reached here, to which you can donate instantly. The exchange led by CZ also announced the possibility of receiving $100 (1883 TRY) via Airdrop for users of those areas affected by the earthquake.
Vitalik Buterin donated 99 ETH. Bitget has committed 1 million Turkish Lira.
Gate.io and Bitfinex have also announced initiatives. OKX announced aid of 1 million Turkish Lira. Huobi also participates in the fundraising, which together with Tron has announced a 2 million Turkish Lira fund to immediately help the affected populations and also to start the reconstruction. Also part of the solidarity fundraising is BitMEX, which announced the allocation of all the proceeds of the Trading Competition of the week to the Red Crescent of Turkey and invited who can donate to do the same.
Bybit also announced the donation of $100,000 to AFAD Turkey (Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency).
In Turkey, a petition put together by companies in the crypto and Blockchain industry started immediately. The petition calls for the creation of official cryptocurrency wallets for fundraising and their sharing through official government channels. Turkish rock star Haluk Levent launched a fundraising on his Twitter collecting donations in stablecoins raised on the AVAX, BSC and ETH blockchains. All the addresses had been approved by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) because cryptocurrency payments were banned in the country in 2021. Turkish exchange Paribu is also raising funds.
I didn’t find much about cryptocurrency donations that can be directed to Syrians. Despite being a country affected by economic sanctions, we don’t care. Cryptocurrencies are borderless and help everyone. One organization that also helps Syria is The Giving Block. It is located in Miami, Florida and it is possible to make a donation to the Syria and Turkey Earthquake Response Fund to support organizations that provide food, shelter, and other lifesaving supplies.
There are many possibilities to donate on the internet but make donations to the subjects I mentioned above or only those approved by the authorities on their official channels. Always check carefully before making your donation. Do not give your money to scammers who take advantage of these tragedies to get rich. Never give up Turks and Syrians, the whole world is with you!!
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