A Reuters report published on Oct. 8 claimed that Japan’s internal affairs and communications minister, Sanae Takaichi, confirmed to ministers in the country that crypto donations are not subject to financial regulations. However, in the same announcement, Takaichi mentioned that donating cash or securities directly to a politician or a campaign is illegal. Only through technicalities in classification have crypto assets been able to fly under the radar of regulatory ordinance. As a result, politicians in Japan can receive individual crypto campaign funding without reporting the donations publicly. Crypto regulation in Japan Notably, Japan is one of the few countries …

Ripple-backed content platform Coil and major open-source browser Mozilla have teamed up to give away a $100 million grant for web monetization. In a Sept. 16 blog post, the team behind Coil revealed that it, Mozilla and Creative Commons, a nonprofit that provides free licenses for creators, are jointly donating $100 million for a program aimed at facilitating and improving monetization on the web. “Grant for the Web” The aforementioned grant that intends to benefit creators and promote the open Web Monetization standard is dubbed “Grant for the Web.” Web monetization lets users independently reward creators, thus eliminating a third …

The French unit of Domino's Pizza launched an ordering competition with a prize of $110,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) or cash. Game is active from Sept. 4 till Oct. 6 According to a company’s tweet on Sept. 6, Domino's Pizza France initiated the 100,000 euro give away on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. Started on Sept. 4, the contest will allow buyers to participate in games while ordering pizzas from Domino's until Oct. 2, while purchase registration will be available till Oct. 6, according to the campaign’s website. As noted in the competition rules, the amount awarded in Bitcoin will …

Rainforest Foundation US is a New York-based, non-profit NGO working in Central and South America, which is now hoping to support anti-deforestation efforts with crypto and blockchain tech. Deforestation and fires in the Brazilian Amazon On Sept. 4, the Rainforest Foundation — which was founded in part by musician Sting — reached out to the crypto and blockchain community to ask for their support to fight against deforestation and forest fires in Brazil. The post on the foundation’s website states: “Since Bolsonaro took office in January, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is up 75% and forest fires in the Brazilian …

Update, 5:30 PM UTC Sept. 5: This piece was found to be below Cointelegraph's reporting standards and has therefore been removed.

BitPAC, the first ever Bitcoin (BTC) political action committee (PAC), will expand its candidate supporting program with an initial coin offering (ICO), Coindesk reports on Aug. 28. Utility token, not a thing of value Dan Backer, who founded BitPAC back in 2014, revealed that the committee will issue a utility token dubbed Politicoin, which will be used to support the PAC and its candidates running for public office. Backer emphasized that the upcoming Politicoin is a utility token, which will not function as a store of value, explaining that the purpose of the project is to provide token holders with …

Blockchain-based internet browser Brave has continued expanding its crypto tipping option by integrating it into Reddit and Vimeo. Tipping for content Announced on Twitter on Aug. 21, a new version of the Brave browser enables users to tip on ad-free video platform Vimeo and social news site Reddit, using Brave’s native Basic Attention Token (BAT). BAT tipping option on Reddit. Source: Twitter BAT is up about 4.6% over the past seven days at press time, trading at $0.192, according to Coin360. The tipping feature on Reddit and Vimeo comes weeks after it was first introduced on Twitter following a successful …

Independent public charity Fidelity Charitable has received $100 million in cryptocurrency donations, according to its recently published report. In its “2019 Giving Report,” Fidelity Charitable illustrated account development throughout 2018, and provided insights into its growth since its establishment. The number of donors reached 204,292 in 2018, while back in 2009 the company had 51,918 accounts. Eliminating capital gains taxes When it comes to digital currency contributions, Fidelity received $106 million worth of cryptocurrency donations since it began accepting cryptocurrency in 2015, which includes $30 million in 2018. The report further notes: “Though cryptocurrency values cooled off considerably by the …

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx has donated $4.5 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to its perpetual swap market insurance fund as a show of support for the Warren Buffett Power Lunch. More protection for traders In a press release shared with Cointelegraph on July 23, the Malta-based crypto exchange revealed its contribution to the perpetual swap market insurance, whose amount is equivalent to what Tron’s Justin Sun paid to have lunch with Warren Buffett. Andy Cheung, head of operations of OKEx, commented on the contribution saying that “the Power Lunch is a significant initiative to advocate the value of Bitcoin, blockchain, and digital …

Tor Project’s new Bitcoin (BTC)-based crowdfunding campaign has reached the softcap of $10,000 in 25 hours after the launch. The new crowdfunding program, known as BitcoinForTor, was launched on July 15 in collaboration with open-source payment processor BTCPay Server. By July 16, the project has raised the minimum amount expected to be secured, BTCPay announced. Having reached the softcap, Tor Project has not halted the fundraising campaign. It is inviting cryptocurrency users to continue donating with Bitcoin within the next 13 days, claiming that protecting privacy online “requires financial support beyond 10k.” At press time, the amount raised within BitcoinForTor …

Throughout May 2019, United Kingdom-based nonprofit organization Oxfam International executed a month-long trial that saw MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin distributed as a means of exchange among citizens of Vanuatu. The Oxfam initiative, named UnBlocked Cash, was conducted in partnership with MakerDAO, ConsenSys and Australian tech startup Sempo. The Australian government also supported the program. Tsunamis, cyclones and volcanic eruptions comprise a constant concern for the citizens of Vanuatu, with WorldRiskReport describing it as the world’s most at-risk nation to natural disaster for five consecutive years. The month-long program saw 200 residents of the Vanuatu villages of Pango and Mele Maat issued …

The owner and operator of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has donated to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to conduct cryptocurrency-related research, according to an announcement published on May 28. HDR Global Trading Limited has made a donation to the MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), the objective of which is to conduct the research necessary to support the development of digital currency and blockchain technology. Specifically, the funds will be allocated to support Bitcoin Core developers Wladimir van der Laan and Cory Fields. Commenting on the sponsorship, Sam Reed, CTO of HDR Global Trading and co-founder of BitMEX, said that the …