Binance Charity, the philanthropic wing of the global crypto powerhouse, has revealed that it’s directed a significant tranche of funds to Vietnam. A total of $200K has been committed to help with relief efforts in the wake of unprecedented flooding in the country. The commitment assists a global region, in Southeast Asia, that is close to Binance Charity’s heart, and where there’s a real need for philanthropy to help Vietnam’s flood victims.
The funding was handed over by Binance Charity representatives in Ho Chi Minh City on November 21, amounting to some 5.3 billion VND when converted from US dollars. Naturally, the donation was gratefully received by Vietnam, with a government official emphasizing that it will make a meaningful difference on the ground, where locals are attempting to rebuild in the wake of the unusually intense floods that destroyed livelihoods and property in equal measure.
It’s not just the size of the donation delivered by Binance Charity that’s significant: so’s the speed with which it was dispatched. Days of intense rainfall within the country have led to severe flooding and landslides, damaging almost 200,000 homes in the process. While the death toll is still being calculated, it’s believed to number into the hundreds, the mountainous province of Dak Lak being particularly affected.
While the announcement marks the first time Binance Charity has supported the country’s 100M+ citizens in mitigating the effects of flood damage, it has a track record of helping Vietnamese afflicted by other natural disasters. Last year, for example, it spearheaded an emergency relief campaign for Typhoon Yagi, and in a separate initiative, helped fund water filtration systems to combat saltwater intrusion. Other localized programs that have previously been backed by Binance include a 10,000-tree reforestation scheme.
Binance Charity’s latest commitment to Vietnam forms part of a long trend among crypto companies and individuals for “paying it forwards” by helping those less fortunate, particularly in developing nations. In fact, so-called “bitcoin benevolence” can be traced back as far as 2011, when the first tentative attempts were made at donating cryptocurrency to charitable organizations.
Almost a decade and a half on, not only has the world learned about cryptocurrency – in 2011, it was hard even finding a charity that had heard of bitcoin, let alone being willing to receive it – but crypto charity has leveled up. The rising value and number of digital assets, including stablecoins, coupled with improved fiat gateways, have made it easy for crypto companies to direct funds to where they’re needed most.
In the case of Vietnam’s flood-hit mountainous regions, Binance Charity was able to react faster than virtually any other charity, ensuring that funds can be rapidly put to work in making lives better for citizens who’ve been directly impacted by the disaster. In the process, the program has helped further highlight the good work undertaken by Binance Charity and benevolent crypto donors to help those less fortunate than themselves.
