- A crypto charity, “Crypto Aid Israel,” has been launched to provide aid to Israelis affected by recent terrorist attacks
- The charity accepts donations in 12 cryptocurrencies with more to come, raising nearly $10,000 so far.
- Distribution challenges will be great, especially with Hamas in control in Gaza
A crypto charity has been launched to give aid to Israelis affected by the weekend’s shock attack by terrorist groups. “Crypto Aid Israel” accepts donations in 12 cryptocurrencies and plans to distribute funds to Israeli nonprofits aiding families who fled southern Israel for Tel Aviv without basic necessities. The fund has been established by a group of Israeli crypto executives and mirrors the efforts to help those affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. These efforts raised around $230 million within 18 months, and the founders of this charity will be hoping for an equally generous response to help those forced to flee their homes.
Wallets Open for Donations
Crypto Aid Israel has opened a multi-signature wallet to collect donations for Israelis in multiple cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. So far, almost $10,000 has been donated and the charity is promising that more cryptocurrencies are coming soon:
BTC address: bc1qu0hzmp30x46vlrt8psh8ghzr47yrduhfkm43cp
ETH/USDT/USDC address: 0xeEE4FcA614308Ed9e7a84B78097E66054F20FC1e
The creation of the charity will channel the crypto donations that have already started to come in sporadically. Palestinian charities have shared crypto wallet addresses on social media to gather donations for Gazans, amassing thousands of dollars in cryptocurrencies. However, the conversion of digital funds into tangible aid remains uncertain due to damage to Gaza’s infrastructure, including the loss of internet access caused by an Israeli strike on the Palestine Telecommunications Company.
Distribution Remains Problematic
A key concern over the distribution of funds revolves around identifying the recipients of these funds, given that Hamas, the governing body in Gaza, is officially classified as a terrorist organization by several governments, including the United States.
Reports indicate that the Israeli government is collaborating with Chainalysis, an on-chain analytics firm, to scrutinize crypto addresses associated with solicitations for potential ties to Hamas, possibly leading to their freezing by crypto exchanges like Binance. This development underscores the complexity of using cryptocurrency for humanitarian purposes in regions affected by conflict.
The horrible irony is that Hamas is known to have used cryptocurrencies to raise funds in the past, although the amounts aren’t thought to be large.
