COVID Crypto Fundraiser For India Raised $3.3 Million: Report

A COVID crypto fundraiser for the people of India raised $3.3 million so far with investors trying to help the country with the latest wave of the pandemic as we can see more in our latest Coronavirus news.

The COVID crypto fundraiser for the latest wave raised millions but more than 200,000 people died from the pandemic in India already. Sandeep Naiwal, a co-founder of the Indian blockchain network Polygon started arranging ICU beds for people in Delhi. He tweeted hours later:

“Can’t take this sitting down anymore.”

The latest coronavirus wave in India killed more than 200,000 people and ramped up hospitals so full that they now started turning away patients which is what inspired Naiwal to run a relief campaign. He turned to the world of crypto and said that his strong reputation and global reach will likely attract large sums and he will get enough power to help his citizens.

Can't take this sitting down anymore, I am going to run a Covid relief campaign in lieu of what’s going on in India.

Need help from the Global crypto community.

I will take full responsibility for transparency, funds usage and regulatory compliance

If you want to donate.. 1/n

— Sandeep – Polygon(prev Matic Network) (@sandeepnailwal) April 24, 2021

So far, the campaign raised $3.3 million in crypto which was helped with a $600,000 gift from Vitalik Buterin himself as well as notable donations from crypto venture capitalist Balaji Srinivasan as well as Dharmesh Shah. The volunteers set up a website and helped Naiwal to start a shell company in Dubai which will help Naiwal turn the donations into US dollars. He will then wire the charities to spend on oxygen, food, or medical supplies.

The campaign inspired others as well. Crypto exchange WazirX will donate $1.1 million with plans to invite customers to donate crypto via its site. WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty said that the campaign already picked up by the Indian media and boosted the public’s perception of crypto in the country. Cryptocurrencies are struggling to disrupt the country’s payments networks and the technology gets belittled by the ongoing threat of a ban:

“People keep asking: ‘What are the use cases of crypto, where is it being used?’ And now you have a solid use case for the best of the causes, which is to help people.”

While people can still donate fiat currencies via a number of charities, the crypto market attracts more fortunes. The news from abroad like Tesla’s BTC purchase and Coinbase’s public listing helped the crypto cause in India as some of the experts claim, it brings more legitimacy.