As per the announcement, coronavirus disease is spreading in Africa “at exponential rates.” The objective of the fundraising program is to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), offering groceries to high-risk individuals, food pack purchase and hand wash facilities.
Paxful will begin the fund with $15,000 and match donations of up to $15,000 in Bitcoin.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Paxful CEO Ray Youseff said:
“We know that the past month has been challenging for everyone. And in Africa, where many Paxful users are from, was also hit by this pandemic. Health systems are underfunded and understaffed and many people are living in unfavorable conditions. In response to that, we are starting a #BuiltWithBitcoin COVID-19 Fund for Africa that aims to directly help communities and showcase crypto as a positive force in times of crisis.”
Cryptocurrencies can circumvent major limitations in fundraising for Covid-19 crisis. As per Youseff:
“The peer-to-peer nature of cryptos passes boundaries of traditional finance, in some cases, it is faster and more convenient when transferring funds. In a pandemic, where time is not on our side and we are restricted to move, we need more reliable alternatives and resources to keep our finances flowing – may it be for money transfers or new revenue streams.”
The program is also supported by humanitarian organizations such as Zam Zam Water, which offers access to pure water facilities and builds schools in villages across the globe. Going forward, Youself said that they are interested in expanding to other zones provided they discover “the right partners as we did in Africa.”
The coronavirus issue has caused the cryptocurrency community across the globe to join in charity related initiatives.
Notably, the Italian Red Cross, which began a cryptocurrency based fund raising process has tripled its objective of raising $10,000 in four weeks, enabling them to establish Covid-19 medical posts across Italy.