The era of philanthropy in the Bitcoin universe is alive and well. A while back, a crypto enthusiast calling himself “Pine” founded the Pineapple Fund, which was valued at 5057 BTC ($86 million). To date, the Pineapple Fund had committed $8 million to eight charities.
Reports indicate that Pine began to mine Bitcoin on an old PC at home when the currency was still quite new. Unlike most early adopters, Pine did not sell his Bitcoin, deciding to hodl them instead. Needless to say, that decision really paid off. Bitcoin has, in recent years, rallied from just $200 to over $18,000.
According to a Reddit post, Pine will donate most of his bitcoins. He said this was because Bitcoin had changed his life and that he had more money than he would ever spend in his life. He says:
I have far more money than I can ever spend. My aims, goals, and motivations in life have nothing to do with having XX million or being the mega rich. So I’m doing something else: donating the majority of my bitcoins to charitable causes.
What Will the Fund Focus On?
The Pineapple Fund is expected to focus most of its donations on mental health, medical research, environmental issues, and wildlife. It will also focus on the fight against domestic violence, sexual abuse, and technology. Pine said that it was not because he thought these were more important than other issues. It was just that they aligned perfectly with his unique set of values.
Featuring the speed and decentralization of the crypto world, Pine went to Reddit to request for some assistance on where to donate. In a short while, Pine had committed to donating to various charities such as the SENS Research Foundation, an institute that researches aging, and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), whose research is on marijuana and psychedelics.
MAPS confirmed that it had, in fact, received a million dollars worth of BTC from Pine, which will be used for their upcoming trials featuring a drug similar to ecstasy in the use of treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
A New Style of Giving
It seemed that Pine’s charitable gift inspired others. Later on, MAPS was given a second donation worth 51.5BTC, which is equal to about a million dollars, from an anonymous donor. Brad Burge, the communications director for MAPS, says that those donations far outstripped the total of cryptocurrency donated to the organization since 2013, which had been $120,800.
Burge thinks that a new era in charitable giving is starting. Charities will now just need to post a public wallet where people can send their deposits. He said that he expected this to become quite standard in coming months.
Emmett Carson, a founder of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, said that he expected crypto coins to begin shaping philanthropy. He noted that donors from the tech industry were starting out younger than their predecessors and that most of the philanthropists were donating in the same way they made their money. They were simply finding a few worthy causes and donating to them in large quantities.
As for the Pineapple Fund, it has given away $8 million so far to charities. Pine has stated that he will not give to individuals, which is probably a smart move.
What are your thoughts on this new style of philanthropy in the cryptocurrency world? Leave us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Pixabay, Pineapple Fund, and Bitcoinist archives.
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