Crypto donations pour in to support Türkiye's earthquake relief

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, many in the crypto industry have looked to donate to help victims, with reportedly more than $10 million in crypto has been sent by companies.

The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck southeastern Türkiye on February 6, and have so far left over 41,000 dead in both Türkiye and Syria.

One of the biggest donors, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, revealed the world’s largest crypto exchange would airdrop BNB worth $100 to all Binance users in 10 cities impacted by the earthquake – identified by proof of address. Total donations are estimated to be roughly $5 million.

The exchange’s charity arm also launched a public donation address, as donations to the Emergency Earthquake Appeal will be accepted in BNB, bitcoin, ether, Binance USD and ripple. 100 percent of all funds raised will go to providing emergency supplies including medical resources, shelter, food and blankets.

Earlier this week, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin made substantial contributions, including his latest donation on February 12 for 50 ETH ($77,000) sent to Anka Relief, a crypto aid fund to support victims of the Türkiye quakes.

This is in addition to the 99 ETH ($150,000) that Vitalik previously donated on February 11 to a NGO.

Beneath the largest aid campaign supervised by AFAD,  the government agency for such disasters, many NGOs rushed to victims' help, have been at the head of organising an influx of aid.

Aside from previously donating a financial aid worth of $318,000, the BtcTurk, Turkish crypto exchange sent $62,000 worth of clothing aid in coordination with local authorities. The Turkish branch of ByBit and OKX have both committed to send $100,000 and $53,000 in aid, respectively.

The Avalanche Foundation, headed by Turkish-American Emin Gun Sirer, has donated $1 million.

Other international companies like Bitfinex, Keet, Synonym and Tether pledged $270,000 for relief and recovery efforts. Crypto exchange Bitget said it would send $50,000 to similar causes, and another exchange Gate.io has started to prepare aid packages and deliver them in coordination with Turkish authorities.

Crypto communities worldwide are generally quick to respond to humanitarian crises, with millions of dollars in donations pouring into Ukraine following the Russian assault last year, and Covid-19 relief to India when it dealt with a deadly outbreak in 2021.

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