- Vitalik Buterian donates twice towards helping Turkey’s earthquake victims
- Anka Relief and Ahbap received donations of around $77,000 and $150,000 in ETH respectively.
- The crypto community unites to aid the earthquake victims.
Two Turkish earthquake relief organizations have received about $227,000 in ETH from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. To aid the victims of the tragic earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria last week, Buterin made at least two sizable donations.
On February 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Turkey and Syria in the early morning hours, leaving 36,000 people dead and tens of thousands injured, making it one of the worst in recent years.
The Ethereum co-founder has been one of many who have actively made crypto donations to aid Turkey’s rescue efforts during the past week. According to blockchain security company PeckShield, Buterin’s recent donation was 50 ETH, or around $77,000, donated to Anka Relief on February 12.
Anka acknowledged the generosity of the Ethereum co-founder and claimed that cryptocurrency donations have been coming in since the first day.
Anker Relief Commented:
“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.”
On February 11, the vitalik.eth address contributed over $150,000 in ETH to Ahbap, a charity organization devoted to aiding the Turkish people.
Cryptocurrency community unites to aid earthquake victims
Cointelegraph reported on February 7, the day after the terrible Turkey and Syria earthquake, that the Web3 community was organizing cryptocurrency donations for NGOs and support. The crypto community demonstrates its willingness to support humanitarian causes once more.
Anka supplied a list of cryptocurrency wallets that can be used for donations. The Ukraine DAO project, which aims to collect cryptocurrency donations to aid in the besieged nation’s efforts, was also initiated by the Web3 humanitarian support organization.
Ahbap has also provided several cryptocurrency addresses for various tokens that can be donated. It claims to have collected $4.3 million in cryptocurrency donations, with stablecoins being the most widely sent tokens. 409 ETH, valued at $622,000 at the time of writing, are said to be present in the Ahbap wallet, according to Etherscan.
The Financial Times of London reported on February 10 that donations in cryptocurrency had been flooding in from around the world. Companies had sent more than $10 million in cryptocurrency, with Binance offering $5 million to help Turkey.
Last week, Binance provided $100 in BNB airdrops to people in the most severely affected locations. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, stated in a press release:
“The recent earthquakes in Turkey have had a devastating impact on so many people and communities. We hope that our efforts will bring some relief to those affected. We are calling on our industry peers to come together again to offer support in these times of crisis.”
In another Tweet, Zhao also said:
“It’s time to take care of our users.”
The Avalanche Foundation gave $1 million worth of AVAX tokens to help raise money. The foundation’s Executive Director Aytunc Yldzl had this to say:
“Turkey is close to the heart of the Avalanche Foundation and community, and the funds will help people recover faster in the wake of this tragedy,” said Executive Director Aytunc Yldzl. “It is time to come together and show that crypto is a force for good and a sign of hope for all us hurting.”
This is not the first time the Cryptocurrency community has stepped in to aid earthquake victims. Previously, the district has been used to raise money for earthquake relief. In 2015, following a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal, where more than 22,000 people were injured and about 9,000 people died, bitcoin donations were made to relief agencies.
