The world's largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange has donated more than 200,000 N95 masks to New York hospitals, including Brooklyn's Maimonides Medical Center.
Binance Charity's Crypto Against COVID fund is the first-ever truly transparent donation fund, running on blockchain technology, Head of Binance Charity Helen Hai said.
Donors are able to track their donations to the fund throughout the entire process, right up to the delivery of the masks, through a public ledger where donations have a specific identification number.
"We believe that neither the market nor aid alone can help the world's most vulnerable populations," Hai said.
"Combining market-based innovations with traditional philanthropy to advance sustainable development around the world gave rise to our novel approach to charitable donations, prioritizing transparency, inclusiveness, and international advocacy."
Binance Charity started the fund with a $1 million donation equivalent in cryptocurrency, and more than $4 million has been donated since. The fund has gone towards buying PPE for hospitals in badly affected cities around the world, including 11 hospitals in New York.
In New York, the organization has launched its PPE Token, which uses blockchain technology to make sure medical supplies reach the hospitals, providing full online traceability through receipts, photos and the online public ledger.
Couriers are also paid with the token and can exchange it for USD once they've completed deliveries.
"This is a time when we all need to support one another in our efforts to combat what is a truly global pandemic," Hai said.
"The reception of our donations by hospital staff and frontline workers has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are proud to contribute to their efforts in any way we can."
Binance Charity is the not-for-profit philanthropic arm of the world's largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, and is dedicated to achieving global sustainable development through blockchain-enabled philanthropy.
The representative said the team has focused efforts on New York City, given it was the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic and there had been a critical shortage of medical equipment. Binance Charity has also donated PPE to hospitals in China, Italy, South Africa, and Spain, among other countries.
