It is believed that during the first week after the disaster, the crypto community donated over $10 million in crypto.
One of the strongest earthquakes in the past decade struck Turkey and Syria on February 6th. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake destroyed buildings, interrupted heating or electricity supplies, and left thousands of people homeless.
Several crypto community members were quick to give a helping hand to those affected by the earthquake, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
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Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian computer programmer and co-founder of Ethereum, has reportedly donated around $227,000 in Ether (ETH) to Turkish earthquake relief organizations.
According to the blockchain security firm PeckShield, on February 12th, Ethereum co-founder donated 50 ETH (around $77,000) to a crypto relief fund, Anka Relief.
The organization used Twitter to thank the Ethereum co-founder for his contribution, noting that crypto donations have been coming to Anka’s crypto wallets since day one.
Since day 1 of the disaster, we witnessed donations piling in the wallets of a handful of major NGOs. Great that they have attracted and will be attracting more funds.
In a tweet, Anka Relief noted that it will distribute funds to the groups working with “women & children, housing, mental health, sanitation.” The organization has shared several crypto wallets where donations can be transferred.
Apart from the Anka Relief, Vitalik Buterin also donated to Ahbap, a non-governmental and nonprofit organization offering help to Turkish citizens affected by the earthquake. The Ethereum co-founder donated 99 ETH (around $150,000).
At the time of writing, the organization has collected over $4.3 million in crypto donations, mainly in the form of stablecoins.
According to the London Financial Times, through the last week, crypto community members from around the globe donated over $10 million in crypto, with cryptocurrency exchange Binance donating $5 million alone.
Moreover, Binance not only donated a significant amount of crypto to Turkish organizations but also announced that it will airdrop 100 BNB to all Turkish users living in affected areas.
