As Australia Burns, Cointelegraph and Oxygen Seven Raise Relief Funds

As megablazes ravage Australia, destroying vast amounts of land and wildlife, Cointelegraph and Oxygen Seven have partnered in a Bitcoin fundraising effort to benefit recovery efforts in the country.

Fighting fire with fundraising

The announcement between Cointelegraph and Oxygen Seven came last week. Through a page on Cointelegraph’s website, users can make anonymous or attributed donations in Bitcoin. The Bitcoin wallet address belongs to Oxygen Seven, which in turn is contributing all of the funds to the Australian Wildfire Fund.

It’s a natural fit for Oxygen Seven, which focuses on issues of climate change, biodiversity, and reforestation. Having recently finished a mission in the Amazon basin, the organization helps make it easier for people to give donations, especially using crypto. Oxygen Seven president Nick Rose told Cointelegraph:

“Cryptocurrency donations provide something significant, which is clarity: donors can track their donations on the chain and how much was raised.”

When asked about the partnership, Rose said, “We chose Cointelegraph because I've been a reader quite some time and I think Cointelegraph can spread awareness to the massive crypto community for our work in Australia!”

Cointelegraph has itself donated 1 BTC to the effort, which has raised a total of 1.2 BTC at press time. Commenting on Cointelegraph’s motivation, the media oulet’s deputy CEO Helen Vitalie Lang, said:

“After seeing the horrific scenes coming out of Australia and the magnitude of loss and suffering being experienced by the Australian people, Cointelegraph felt compelled to act and do our part to help. We know that the crypto community has the ability to mobilize and change the world.”

Those donations will go to the Australian Wildlife Fund, a collaborative fundraising effort of organizations dedicated to helping Australia recover from the wildfires. Donations support local firefighters, wildlife recovery efforts, local community needs, and long-term solutions to prevent future tragedies. Cointelegraph is encouraging people to support Oxygen Seven’s fundraising efforts by using the hashtag #CryptoForAustralia on social media.

The degree of damage

The megablazes have impacted Australia in historical proportions. Dr. Ross Bradstock, an Australian wildlife specialist, told the New York Times, “We’re looking at a globally significant fire season” that is worse than California in 2018, larger than last year in the Amazon basin, and harsher than anything in Canada, the Meditteranean, or elsewhere in South America.

So far, the wildfires have reportedly killed 28 people, blackened 16 million acres, choked the continent with toxic smoke, flattened 3,000 homes, and killed 1 billion native animals.

Commenting on the impact of the wildfires, Australian mother Angela Rintoul told Bloomberg, “This is going to change the whole way we organize our lives.”