Binance might be the biggest exchange platform in the crypto business, but as an organization it does more than just generate profits. It’s one of the most recognizable names in a crypto industry that prides itself on helping people to discover financial freedom. As such, it’s a big believer in giving back to the world through the blockchain-powered philanthropic efforts of its charitable arm.
Binance Charity is a separate, nonprofit organization founded by Binance in 2018, and its mission is to showcase how blockchain can make philanthropy more transparent and efficient. Since its launch, it has transformed the way people can support good causes across the globe.
According to Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, Binance Charity is about using blockchain to give back to society, and it’s laser focused on helping the less fortunate individuals in the world improve their lives. By using blockchain, it becomes possible for donors to track how their contributions are put to use, reassuring them that their funds are spent as they intended.
Crypto For Good Causes
In the five years since it was founded, Binance Charity has supported countless good causes, focusing on sustainable development, healthcare, education and alleviating poverty.
It all began with the Blockchain Charity Foundation, which was set up shortly after the charity was founded. It’s the main organization responsible for conceiving and implementing the various projects it supports, raising funds and so on.
One of Binance’s most important goals is to improve the lives of underprivileged children. In 2019, for instance, it launched the Lunch for Children program in Uganda, with charitable donations it raised being used to supply nutritious meals to more than 3,000 school children on a daily basis. The program has since been expanded to other parts of Africa, including Kenya and South Africa, and it has been a huge success – at the time of writing, it now supplies more than 100,000 meals daily to children across Africa.
Another praiseworthy initiative has been the Binance for Children Special Impact Education Project, in partnership with the Kenyan, Ugandan and South African governments. The project has created a comprehensive program focused on improving education and access to information for children in those countries.
Those efforts have been ongoing for some time, but a more recent success occurred in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. Just weeks into the conflict, Binance pledged a minimum of $10 million towards alleviating the growing humanitarian crisis in that country, with the funds to be split between relief organizations such as UNICEF, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, iSans and other charities. At the same time, Binance asked its community to consider donating to its Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund, pledging to spend the proceeds on essentials such as food, fuel, supplies and medicines for refugees. The campaign has been extremely effective, and at the time of writing had raised more than $11 million.
Binance Charity has also been unable to ignore the plight of our planet, which faces an unprecedented risk from climate change. Saving the environment will likely require every single one of us to pitch in somehow, and Binance is doing its part with its Protect Our Planet campaign, which has so far raised more than $2 million in support of efforts to restore habitats, oceans and protect endangered wildlife.
Other Binance-led initiatives included Crypto Against COVID, which raised funds to pay for much-needed medical supplies, protective gear and other support for hospitals and frontline workers at the height of the global pandemic. All told, the program raised more than $4 million in donations.
The Crypto Connect – Financial Inclusion For All project also deserves a special mention, given how its aims are intertwined with the vision of so many cryptocurrency proponents. It’s all about promoting financial inclusion through the adoption of crypto. As Binance points out, there are around 1.7 billion “unbanked” or “underbanked” people in the world, and many live in absolute poverty due to their inability to access financial services. The goal of the initiative is to address this through various educational programs, partnerships and research efforts, aimed at providing the unbanked with access to alternative financial services such as crypto and DeFi.
How Crypto Transforms Charity
One of the greatest things about Binance Charity is not just the funds it has raised, but the innovation. It has improved aspects such as transparency, accountability and efficiency in charity-giving.
The use of blockchain is a revelation that makes charitable donations far more appealing to those who may be worried that their money isn’t going where they intend. It’s well known that there are many charities out there that pay their executives enormous salaries using the money they raise, and not everyone wants their donations to be used in that way.
Because blockchain tracks how contributions are used in real-time, it reassures people that the money they give is being used to help the people who need it. This builds trust between donors and charitable organizations, and those that develop a reputation for putting people’s donations to work can potentially raise even more as a result.
Blockchain can also help to reduce some of the costs involved in raising money through its greater transaction efficiency, which eliminates the need for cross-border money transfers and middlemen. It means charities’ overheads are much lower, meaning more of the donations can be spent on good causes.
Binance Charity has established itself as one of the leading players in crypto-based philanthropy, and its work has had a very real and positive impact on the lives of thousands. Its efforts underscore blockchain and crypto’s unique potential to change the world and make it a better place for everyone to live.
