The Covid-19 pandemic is raging in India, the way it is affecting other countries around the globe. India’s statistics are heart-wrecking. For instance, according to the Union Health Ministry data, India has over 3268710 cases and a death toll of more than 211853 people. As a result of these staggering and increasing figures, several organizations are participating in relief provision around the country.
Some of the organizations taking the lead in relief provision include Google and Googlers which are providing Rs 135 crore in funding to non-profit organizations including GiveIndia and UNICEF. Microsoft has also promised to offer remarkable assistance to help the people of India to cope with the pandemic. Additionally, Apple's CEO Tim Cook also added that Apple will be donating to support and relief efforts on the ground.
Crypto leaders and organizations join the battle
The fight against Covid-19 is not confined to traditional businesses, institutions, and foreign governments. The crypto community is also at the forefront of offering assistance to victims and healthcare institutions. The leaders of various crypto organizations and interested individuals are pooling their resources in the form of cryptocurrencies to provide relief to the affected people in India.
Sandeep Nailwal, the co-founder of Polygon (previously known as Matic Network) is the initiator and leader in the crypto relief effort. Sandeep took to Twitter on 24th April, stating Can’t take this sitting down anymore, I am going to run a Covid relief campaign in lieu of what’s going on in India,”.
Soon after the announcement, many crypto organizations, founders, and enthusiasts continue to contribute their resources to India Covid Relief Fund. The renowned names joining this effort include angel investor Balaji Srinivasan, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, Philanthropist and investor Joe Lonsdale, founder of TechCrunch and Crunchbase Michael Arrington, Indian DJ Nikhil Chinapa, and many others.
More so, the former Australian cricketer Bret Lee donated 1bitcoin towards the Covid fund. Posting on his Twitter account, Lee says, “I feel privileged to be in a position of making a difference, and with this in mind, I would like to donate… to help with the purchase of oxygen supplies for hospitals around India.”
Additionally, India’s cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX donated Rs.8 Crore for Covid relief. Mask Network donated $50 thousand ($USDT) to the fund. However, this is not the first time that Mask Network has donated Covid assistance. In 2020, Mask’s founder, Suji Yan organized a fund to assist in the provision of masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the frontline staff.
Another crypto exchange, KuCoin launched a charity fund with an initial amount of Rs.1 Crore. The aim is to purchase urgent medical supplies and other important material. To raise the required funds, KuCoin partnered with other organizations and NGOs.
Based on Twitter's reactions to the donations made by the crypto organizations and individuals, the Indian community appreciates the assistance and encourages other well-wishers in the crypto world to chip in.
Regulatory Hurdles
Regulatory crypto uncertainty in India is looked like one of the major issues to encash the crypto donation, however, some of the individuals and entities extend their support to audit the campaign. As Mr.Nailwal tweeted, Deepak who he described as India’s top CA has agreed to lead the regulatory and audit part for this campaign.
What's Next?
Mr.Nailwal recently announced that the campaign has a UAE entity "IN Covid Support FZE LLC" and has a US bank account which is powered by FV Bank. The bank is headquartered in Puerto Rico, United States. "Money being wired into now", added Mr.Nailwal.
The campaign has now granted $1.1million (Rs. 7.4 crore) to an initiative "Act Grants" focused on providing oxygen for everyone. Act Grant is a movement run by India's startup ecosystem focused on fighting societal problems. As stated by Mr.Nailwal, "ACT is working to deploy 50,000 oxygen concentrators across the country".
How can well-wishers make their donations?
Interested individuals and parties can make donations using the various cryptocurrency addresses listed below:
ERC20 tokens: 0x68A99f89E475a078645f4BAC491360aFe255Dff1
TRC20: TSZMcrQzMLdKrgiMPoe2uQMHLeEpkf2j8E
Cosmos: cosmos1sjrfyxwsvsslt4nzwqm0t6shghvylndxzf9tye
ETH: 0x68A99f89E475a078645f4BAC491360aFe255Dff1
BTC: bc1q220k2449fau0pxu9hfn28q3w4k99ep9hwsa5fa
DOGE: D6fWVp613N3dyLM6Zoghj3dZaEjbGZ8gpX
Tron: TSZMcrQzMLdKrgiMPoe2uQMHLeEpkf2j8E
Tezos: tz1dMYz5pcXYXnfH5gjr652iSDq9zc2SrqRi
Solana: Gc6jm5gJVWE5DnjMMgzijghKYQqLTci9hZs7LYHYJs1g
Binance Smart Chain address: 0x5C9E5571B17D91e6ACcD4F0c29bBe199Af1f7B09
Litecoin: ltc1qcju52q8c3vv2a3uddx9zcna2sfg2mal84pa67z
Ripple: rMX7JTCwp92WX1nyZsL3F8Hgc6ej8Q5Mud
No destination tag required
Transparency
The team has put in place measures to ensure transparency in the disbursement of the resources.
* Shreyas from llamacommunity is managing a dashboard where all relevant data is found.
*Anujs from Ethereum Foundation will review all transactions
* India’s top CA in crypto Vacpad assists in the regulatory and audit part of the campaign.
Conclusion
The involvement of crypto organizations and individuals in providing relief using cryptocurrencies opens a new era in our society. It means that people can use their digital resources to further the welfare of others and to help in the developmental agendas of India.