The crypto community donates over $ 1.7 million in Ethereum and ERC20 tokens for the Indian coronavirus fight

Cryptocurrency holders and makers from around the world are providing funds to help India grapple with the increasing number of cases in the country, data and tweets from various sources show.

This weekend, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum (ETH) and Maker (MKR) donated over USD 640,000 worth of a crypto-focused relief fund to fight the coronavirus situation in India.

Thank you for organizing this @sandeepnailwal and thank you for pointing out @balajis! Https://t.co/2PBOQKYuZqhttps: //t.co/uOzQ15sZnL

– vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin), April 24, 2021

According to Buterin public Ethereum addressOver 100 ETH and 100 MKR were donated to the aptly named “India Covid-Crypto Relief Fund” wallet.

With the move, Buterin is stepping into where the country’s government, politicians and high-heeled celebrities have failed. He is part of the emerging cohort of crypto individuals who are donating some of their newfound wealth to alleviate the problems in the country.

When crypto kicks in

India, home to 1.3 billion people, is facing one of the worst crises. over 3 million In the past day alone, new virus cases were reported, bringing the number to a staggering 14 million – or nearly 10% of the entire world.

There is a shortage of oxygen tanks, hospital beds, and apparently even money. Oxygen tanks, in particular, have become a political tug-of-war, with members of the ruling party gathering supplies for themselves (and for people who vote for them).

But individuals in the local crypto industry have taken note and unite others on the cause. Last weekend, Sandeep Nailwal, the Delhi-based co-founder of Layer 2 blockchain company Polygon, said in a now viral tweet that he would be leading and running a “Covid Relief Campaign” to help the disadvantaged in the country.

“I will take full responsibility for transparency, use of funds and compliance with legal requirements,” he said, given India’s reluctance to face cryptocurrencies in general.

I have a couple of channels through which we can seek to get oxygen, food, probably vaccines, and more to those in need

All cost details are published publicly and additional people are added to the working group.

3 / n

– Sandeep – Polygon (previous Matic network) (@sandeepnailwal) April 24, 2021

The tweet was promptly picked up by Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO at Crypto Exchange Coinbase, who urged his 325,000 followers to join the movement. “Consider joining me and VitalikButerin by donating to the addresses below. For each RT, I will donate an additional $ 50,000 to fight COVID in India, up to $ 100,000,” he tweeted.

If you’ve been lucky enough to do well this year, you can join me and @VitalikButerin by donating to the addresses below.

But if you only have Twitter, you’re helping get the word out. For every RT, I donate an additional $ 50 to help fight COVID in India, up to $ 100,000. #cryptovscovid https://t.co/eKlOlccelv

– balajis.com (@balajis) April 25, 2021

Nailwal has since expanded the list to include Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Cosmos, Tezos, Solana, Litecoin and others. At the time of going to press, the relief map shows various cryptocurrencies valued at nearly $ 1.7 million.

Since @VitalikButerin first donated 100 ETH + 100 MKR to support COVID efforts in India, 1 day later @sandeepnailwal has collected:

Donations of $ 1,314,651

That’s ~ 280 transactions, including
5 255 ETH
K 130,000 stable coins
$ 50,000 in MATIC

?https: //t.co/mJsdPFxxnK https://t.co/EcpQpy2jew pic.twitter.com/w6kTZuvSpB

– DeFi Dad ⟠ defidad.eth (@DeFi_Dad) April 25, 2021

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