Singapore Red Cross, a humanitarian aid organization, has agreed to accept donations in crypto. At this time, all those looking to give money to the Red Cross can do so through their bitcoin, ether, Tether, and USD Coin accounts.
Red Cross Agrees to Crypto Donations
The move is pushing the goals of bitcoin and its digital counterparts closer to being achieved. What many people likely forget is that while bitcoin and many of its crypto cousins have taken on either speculative or even hedge-like statuses in recent years, many of them were initially designed to serve as payment tools. They were built to push checks, credit cards, and fiat currencies to the side, but this has been a relatively slow journey given the volatility that continues to drag them down.
It is extremely hard to understand when bitcoin and its crypto family will go up or down when it comes to their prices. Many stores and companies have been reluctant to say “yes” when it comes to accepting crypto payments for this reason, and to a degree, we can’t blame them.
Consider the following scenario: someone walks into a store and buys $50 worth of merchandise with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the store doesn’t trade the BTC into fiat right away and about 24 hours go by. From there, the price of BTC goes down and that $50 becomes $40. The customer gets to keep everything he or she bought, but the store has lost money in the end. Is this a fair situation? Not everyone thinks so.
That’s what makes enterprises like the Red Cross so important. They understand the initial purposes of bitcoin and digital currencies and are trying to transform them into usable tools that everyday people can benefit from.
In a statement, the organization said that all the crypto donations it receives will be immediately turned into cash payments and settled through bank transfers. Benjamin William – the secretary general and chief executive officer of the Singapore Red Cross – expressed his excitement in a recent interview and said:
Enabling cryptocurrency donations also provides more opportunities for the new generation of donors who are familiar with digital currencies to consider philanthropy and assisting the disadvantaged.
Crypto donations can be accepted through the Red Cross’ partnership with Triple-A, a digital payment platform licensed by the government of Singapore. All donations are slated to be anonymous.
This Option Has Been Around for a While
In addition to the assets mentioned above, the Red Cross is also permitting individuals to donate funds through their Binance digital wallets. The option to pay via crypto has been available since early August.
In Singapore, crypto is treated very much like it is in the United States, and it’s often viewed as property rather than actual money.
