Before the 2017 bull run, growth hacker Giacomo Arcaro often slept in his car. Now an entrepreneur who speaks at crypto conferences and forums, he is looking for ways to promote adoption and help those financially struggling as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Last weekend, Arcaro prepared to issue up to $50,000 in Ether (ETH) crypto loans to homeless and unhoused people in New York City. After speaking with some of the roughly 80,000 individuals in the city’s homeless population on a different occasion — and giving away some Bitcoin (BTC) in the process — he said many …

Crypto and blockchain adoption for humanitarian causes is set for another expansion as the Danish Red Cross has sponsored a catastrophe bond aimed at providing relief in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. According to CIR Magazine, the catastrophe bond — often shortened to cat bond — has the backing of private firms and other humanitarian establishments with investors like Solidum Partners and Plenum Investments associated with the project. Using blockchain technology developed by Replexus — an insurance risk securitization outfit — the cat bond aims to raise funds for humanitarian relief and expedite its release in the aftermath of …

Users of major privacy-oriented messaging app Signal can now support the project with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Signal officially announced Monday that the platform has started accepting crypto donations as a form of support for the Signal Technology Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind the app. “As a nonprofit organization, we depend on your support. If you've been patiently waiting for Signal to accept cryptocurrency donations, you no longer need to hodl back your generosity,” Signal wrote. Cryptocurrency donations are now part of Signal’s “Donate” section on its official website, specifying that the new feature is enabled via major crypto donations …

There is a running gag among many Texans that anytime someone drops a cup filled with ice, it’s enough of a reason to cancel school — major winter storms are so rare that authorities don’t often have the means to clear and salt icy streets. However, what happened last month in the Lone Star State was no joke. Millions of people experienced a week-long storm with sub-zero temperatures, many impassable streets, burst water pipes, and days without power. In mid-February, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, had been forced to shut down large areas of the state’s independent …

United States crypto exchange Gemini has added a way for customers to donate crypto to over 100 nonprofits worldwide via The Giving Block. Gemini now gives customers the option to “Give Back With Crypto,” The Giving Block unveiled in a blog post on Thursday. Available charities range from human rights efforts to those seeking to provide clean water and beyond. Some of the charitable groups available, as listed on The Giving Block’s website, include Water Wells for Africa, the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, Kids in Need of Defense and many more. “For this feature, any time a user clicks …

With roughly 100 million members, the church representing the dominant religion in Russia has no plans to accept cryptocurrency donations or offerings. According to a Q&A streamed on YouTube by Jesus Portal, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Hilarion Alfeyev, said the Russian Orthodox Church, or ROC, is not planning to create its own digital currency, nor is it planning to accept cryptocurrency including Bitcoin (BTC) for donations. However, Alfeyev added it was possible to use other forms of technology to send money to the church: phone calls. "We are unlikely to accept …

Jack Dorsey, CEO of social media powerhouse Twitter, has donated 1 Bitcoin (BTC) to Brink, a nonprofit group focused on Bitcoin’s technological framework. “Honored to have received a 1 BTC donation to our developer funding efforts from none other than @jack!,” Brink’s Twitter account posted on Tuesday. At the time of publication, that Bitcoin is worth $46,824. Reporting earlier this month showed the recently established organization receiving 503(c)(3) nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service, giving Brink a break on federal taxation. The entity looks to further Bitcoin by helping out its developers, as noted on Brink’s website: “Brink exists …

Kraken has pledged $100,000 to Coin Center, a cryptocurrency advocacy group based in Washington D.C. In a blog from the crypto exchange today, Kraken said it had donated the funds to promote Coin Center’s work in educating regulators about digital assets an advancing the rights of crypto users. The exchange said that the advocacy group "has been a vanguard for challenging policies such as the proposed STABLE act as well as recent rushed Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rulemaking." "At a time when misinformation about this new technology remains high, we call on all industry leaders to join us in funding …

In collaboration with crypto donations company The Giving Block, the American Cancer Society has set up the Cancer Crypto Fund, which seeks to raise at least $1 million by early 2021 to fund ongoing research initiatives. Donations to fund cancer research plunged 50% in 2020, reaching the lowest this century, according to the American Cancer Society. The sharp drop-off was attributed to the economic impact of COVID-19. According to the American Cancer Society: “The crypto community's contributions will help re-establish crucial research funding for new discoveries and better treatments to save the lives of family and friends.” The first crypto …

The cryptocurrency community has been doubling down on its support to privacy-centric applications like Tor Browser in 2020, according to new data. The Tor Project, a non-profit organization behind the anonymous Tor Browser, saw a 23% increase in cryptocurrency donations in 2020. A spokesperson at the Tor Project told Cointelegraph that crypto-powered donations surged from $189,637 in 2019 to $233,019 in 2020. According to a Jan. 25 announcement by the project, crypto donations made up nearly 26% of total individual donations, which amounted to $913,110. According to a Tor Project representative, Bitcoin (BTC) was the most popular cryptocurrency for their …

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital-asset manager, has pledged $1 million to Coin Center, Washington, D.C.’s most influential cryptocurrency advocacy group — a move it believes will help broaden “foundational knowledge” of the industry. The million-dollar donation was announced Monday in a press release, which also revealed Grayscale’s plan to match contributions to Coin Center through the end of February. Over that period, Grayscale plans to match donations dollar-for-dollar up to an additional $1 million. Grayscale got the inspiration for the donate-and-match program from Kraken, the San Francisco-based exchange that managed to raise over $3 million for Coin Center in …

A crypto user who lost roughly $50,000 from a smart contract mistake before the holidays is thanking the crypto community for donating $11,000 to help recover the loss. Earlier this month, Github user dawidkabani13 said he had accidentally sent 4,005 Chainlink (LINK) — worth roughly $47,000 at the time — to an immutable Aavegotchi (GHST) smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain. He immediately realized that it did not support operations for the token and reached out to the crypto community asking for any and all help to recover his "life savings." The crypto user offered a 1,000 LINK reward and …