Bitcoin Forum

Hello everyone,

My name is Vladislav Dramaliev and I have to say I am bitcoin enthusiast from Bulgaria. I know that the meaning of this term has been tarnished by a number of bad players form the bitcoin ecosystem, but the fact is that that is what I am.

I am the Co-Founder of the first website for bitcoin exchange in Bulgaria (bitcoini.com), founded CoinFixer.com (currently functioning but in Bulgarian) and am currently working on my last (at least for now) bitcoin-related project – BitHope (https://bithope.org/?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=bitcointalk). I am also the Co-Founder of the Bulgarian Bitcoin Association, a member of the Bitcoin Foundation (although this does not mean much) and have held a number of bitcoin/Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related presentations during public events and for the media. I have also prepared and translated numerous bitcoin-related articles. You can find out more about me by visiting my LinkedIn profile (https://bg.linkedin.com/in/dramaliev).

What I want to present to you is my latest project – BitHope (https://bithope.org/?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=bitcointalk). I will be happy to receive your comments on the idea and its execution. I will try to be as concise as possible, but I am also striving to address all questions that you may have in advance. Here we go:

I got the idea about this project while dealing with bitcoin exchange, learning about bitcoin and the blockchain. I came to the realization that bitcoin is simply perfect for donations – it is global, it is transparent, one can send small amounts with little or no fees and anyone can use it. On the other hand – it is still pretty volatile and trust between donor and beneficiary is not easily established. I know there are crowdfunding platforms like Mike Hearn’s Lighthouse, but I think that they are still too complicated for the “first-bitcoin” user (although with advantages, primarily trust).

I have decided to act on my observations and use my experience in the sphere to initiate the development of the BitHope project. You may call it a Frankenstein, since this idea is composed of a number of ideas. First, it is about charity crowdfunding (you can say these are two different things), second it uses ONLY bitcoin (for now, but I do not see a reason for adding other Cryptos since there is ShapeShift), third it is primarily aimed at helping non-governmental organizations, fourth it aims at accumulating charity campaigns from all over the bitcoin economy (primarily in the ‘External” category, “one-stop-shop”), fifth but actually really, really important – it is transparent (one may even say too transparent).

I am sure that in your countries there are NGOs that struggle to generate even modest amounts of funds in order to achieve their charitable goals. I know there are numerous such organizations in Bulgaria. I have met personally with many of their Directors and they are all very interested in the prospect of acquiring a new source of funding (especially international). What they don’t understand (surprise, surprise) is bitcoin/Bitcoin. You may say that they do not have to – they can contact BitPay and never deal with bitcoins at all. Yes, they can, but there are a few hurdles. One, they are not really used to working with firms outside of the country and not really used to providing personal information to such entities. Two, even if they acquire a Bitcoin address and display it on their website – who will know about it + how many will donate?

BitHope is my solution to this.

The BitHope Foundation is an NGO in the public benefit that we have established and I am a director of. The Foundation is the first (and only) NGO in the country that accepts only cryptocurrency as donations. The primary instrument of the Foundation is the BitHope.org (https://bithope.org/?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=bitcointalk) website that we have been developing since the start of 2015.

The Foundation

-   Is registered in accordance with Art. 33 of the Law on Nonprofit Legal Entities (LNLE).
-   Is included in the Central Register of Nonprofit Legal entities to the Ministry of Justice (in accordance with Art. 45 (3) LNLE)
-   Is subject to reporting obligations in accordance with Art. 46 of the LNLE.
-   Has developed and applies Internal Rules, approved by the State Agency for National Security, with the aim of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
-   Is registered with the Commission for Personal Data as an Administrator of Personal Data.

You can find more information and official documentation on the BitHope.org website -> What is BitHope page (https://bithope.org/what-is-bithope)

The website

It is a charity crowdfunding website where local NGOs can upload (not freely, mind you, read on) their campaigns and start receiving bitcoins.
How it functions:
-   Each campaign has a unique Bitcoin address (virtual donation box, as we like to call it).
-   It is a brand new cold wallet, generated under an bootable offline Ubuntu OS, using bitaddress files downloaded from GitHub, with an BIP38 encrypted private key (Diceware security paranoiac approach) that has never touched the internet (I see no purpose of using a hardware wallet, although that may change in the future).
-   For the duration of the campaign the wallet only receives transfers (incoming transactions).
-   After its completion (one of: goal reached, time elapsed, or whichever happens first) generated bitcoins can be sent directly to the beneficiary (if they know what to do with them) or converted to fiat (using a bitcoin exchange – Tier 4 access to Kraken) and then transferred to the beneficiary. This means a single outgoing transaction only after campaign completion.
-   The Foundation keeps AT MOST 5% of all the proceeds. If the generated funds are below 50 Euro bitcoin-equivalent, 100% go to the beneficiary.
-   All information regarding generated funds, exchange rate, fees (if any) and final sum transferred to the beneficiary is provided in the “Completed Campaigns” category, together with information regarding their spending. Official documents are uploaded as well and will be available for download (extracts from Kraken, bank accounts, document ascertaining the receipt of the donation by the beneficiary, etc.).
-   Supported campaigns must not require funding larger than 2000 Euro and we even urge them to propose campaigns that require around 1000 Euro (you can say small-size).
-   Another important characteristic of the campaigns that we look for in the campaigns is “divisibility”. For example – a campaign needs 1000 Euro for 10 school books for 10 children. Only 400 Euro get generated – 4 children get their school books.

Why don’t we use BitPay (or another payment processor)?

We don’t see a reason. We use the widely available block services of BlockCyper and exchange services by Kraken. We tried using the Blockchain.info payment API, but that was horrible, simply unusable. Moreover, BitPay does not allow for a multiple addresses for a single merchant which goes against the idea of unique BTC addresses for each campaign, which ensures transparency of generated funds.

Why don’t you convert all BTC to fiat immediately?

We believe that this goes against the bitcoin idea. Yes, bitcoin is volatile and currently that is part of its nature. We want our primary currency to be bitcoin, not Euro. Moreover, if we convert immediately we lose transparency. If bitcoins remain in their unique BTC wallet, anyone can go check a certain campaign’s balance and transaction history. This is also very much connected with the single address bottleneck of existing processors. If everything goes to a single address – how do you determine what went to each campaign (I am sure there are a number of technical solutions to this, but why bother? + transparency!). Our approach is very similar to airport donation boxes – they remain there for months, accumulating all funds and not caring about currency volatility. You can say that we choose transparency and accept volatility.

How does one donate?

You have to simply go to the campaigns page, chose a campaign – scan its QR code or copy/paste its address and send (Option 2). There is another option (Option 1) – BitPay style, which allows you to subscribe to our newsletter, add your name or logo to the donors’ lists (as a person or a company) and receive a certificate for tax reduction purposes. You provide only a name or alias and an e-mail address for the former two, but we will need more personal information for the latter (tax authorities require it).

Can I reduce my taxes by donating bitcoins?

It might be possible depending on the tax laws in your jurisdiction. Even in the European Union these laws are not fully synced. Nonetheless, the BitHope Foundation, due to its legal nature, can produce such certificates to all interested parties that have donated bitcoins using donate Option 1. The format of this certificate could be adjusted to fit your specific needs, subject to legal constrains. How do we calculate the amount that you can reduce your taxes with? Your donation is multiplied by the average daily BTC/EUR price on Kraken, as available here (http://www.investing.com/currencies/btc-eur-historical-data?cid=49800).

Why the centralized approach?

You can say that BitHope.org is a form of centralization while the purpose of bitcoin is exactly the opposite. We do agree with this, but we also believe this level of centralization is required in order to ensure proper spending of the proceeds. In order to do that, we go through a process of due-diligence for each NGO that wants to upload a campaign on BitHope.org and contractually oblige them to use the funds ONLY for a specific purpose (as announced on the page for each campaign). Our primary partners in this endeavor are the Bulgarian Center for Non-Profit Law and NGOBG.info which together have been active in the NGO sector for more than 15 years and bring much experience in the process of dealing with NGOs.  

Why is it not open for anyone who wishes to upload a campaign?

In accordance with what was said above – it is because we cannot ensure that they will spend the generated bitcoins in accordance with their announced purpose. We do not have the funding or the staff to deal with court cases involving other jurisdictions. We have so far not found a solution on how to deal with this apart from – funds. If you have any ideas that prevent erosion of trust due to abuses – please share them.

Why donate?

The primary reason is of course – to help a charitable campaign, to show empathy no matter where in the world you are and use cryptocurrency. Apart from that, you may be able to reduce your taxes with the amount of your donation (most probably EU only). Finally, you can add your name to the “Supporters->Persons” page or include your business logo on the home page or on the “Supporters->Companies” page, thus promoting it.

The BitHope project is entirely self-funded and we are definitely not in it for the money. Having in mind the 5% that we keep, you can imagine what volume the website must generate in order for some meaningful funding to get accumulated. The funds that we keep are primarily for hosting and administrative expenses, since no staff is getting paid at this point (and for the foreseeable future).
We fell in love with the idea and decided to realize it in the best possible way. Although my bitcoin involvement has caused me many worries in the past, I remain firm believer in the good that the technology can bring to the world.

Please visit BitHope.org’s BETA (https://bithope.org/?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=bitcointalk), ask me anything and/or send me your comments and recommendations. You feedback is highly appreciated!

You can also read the news about the reasoning behind the project here (https://bithope.org/news/bitcoin-for-charity-the-case-for-bithopeorg).

Regards,
Vladislav

i really like your site so this is still beta right?,the sites looks good anyway could you add some project like cancer suffer or evrything about health yeah the people who unfortunate like us,
i think thats gonna be epic

Hey thank you!

We are very open and would like to help as many people as possible! However, we still haven't come up with a way to promote campaigns of people or organizations which are not geographically close to us. We are working on that.

We want to ensure that all donated bitcoin go the cause they were directed to and are spent in a way, consistent with the aim of the campaign. We do not want people sponsoring their vacations or frivolous lifestyles under the pretext they have health issues, for example.

Nonetheless, if you have something in mind, please contact us at info@bithope.org.

We want to help!

Regards,
Vlad

Really great initiative, I looked at some causes and it's pretty clear that the funds are indeed going straight to the causes.
And Bitcointalk is also listed, I noticed :)

It's great and will help the charity.
anyway, the campaign is held by your team or everyone can request the campaign? and make it crowdfunding worldwide.

Hello!

We are currently thinking about how to make it open to everyone worldwide and at the same time ensure that the donated bitcoins are used in accordance with the campaign goals. For now it is only for legal persons not people. We fully realize that it must be open to every one (and we want it to be), but there are many bad players who can take advantage of this.

More campaigns means more funds for us, but that is not what we strive for. We want to show people that bitcoins can be used to bring about a real change in the world - by helping a charity cause. This requires successfully competed campaigns + proper spending of the generated funds.

If, for example, if Reyansh from India wants to start a campaign on BitHope.org, how can we guarantee that he will not use the generated funds for something other than what is stated in his campaign? Do you have any ideas? Please share! Going to court is not really an option.

Regards,
Vlad

Nice Design of the site but I think it can be much bettor than this.
There are very less chances donation but we can still hope for the bits.

I know it very well, there are still some people who born to be a scammer.

I think you should make verify system(for the future), if people want to request some campaign, they must verify with valid identity to your company with the direction of the campaign which will held for what, maybe do some survey to the venue is good idea too for more promising the campaign will success.

So far, this is one of the best project ideas I have seen on these forums in quite a while :)

Thank you! This really means much to us. If you think it could be a good story (it is definitely a story about "good") please contact us.

Yes, but ID is not enough. That can be fabricated as well. It must be more complex, but not too much. Have some ideas already, but will have to present them to more knowledgeable people from similar fields. It is more or less KYC :)

Ah that's right, verify ID is not enough. i hope you guys can make a system more secure for the campaign.
i think it will be useful for the future. someday i will held a campaign too, but the problem is i'm in another country.

Hello everyone,

I would just like to let you know that the BitHope Foundation is now part of the ChangeTip project and can be selected as a recipient of tips from the "Give" page on the ChangeTip website.

Anyone can send us tips through our dedicated ChangeTip page (http://BitHope.tip.me).

We are now also a Enterprise tier member of BitPay. You can send us small amounts through our BitPay donations page (https://bitpay.com/95274/donate).

We will not keep any donations! All funds will be distributed to the charity campaigns on our website.

Regards,
Vladislav Dramaliev

"Send a bit of hope!"

Hey! We are doubling all donations send to our charitable campaigns today. If you donate, please add a link to your transaction here. :)

For #GivingTuesday we are trying to generate 0.63 BTC to purchase shoes for children in social institutions.

Any amount is welcome!

You can send us your bits of hope through the „Half Euro for Shoes“ campaign page (http://"https://bithope.org/campaign/support-the-half-a-euro-for-shoes-campaign")

All purchased items go directly to the children!

Thank you!

BitHope.org's profile in the biggest NGO portal in Bulgaria is one of the most visited in 2015!

We are thrilled! This is not great only for BitHope.org (https://bithope.org/), but for Bitcoin as well. More and more people are learning about cryptocurrencies and are willing to try them out. We are trying to facilitate this. The best way to do it, however, is to provide tangible proof that bitcoin can be used for making good.

Help us finish our first bitcoin-crowdfunded charity campaign (https://bithope.org/campaign/support-the-half-a-euro-for-shoes-campaign). This will be the best Christmas present for us! We are trying to generate 0.63 bitcoins in order to buy shoes for children living in social institutions.

Every bit helps, guys! You really cannot imagine how much every donation means to us!

"Send a bit of hope!"

This is a great project. On the one hand, the Bitcoin community can help people who need urgently help and on the other hand, we could gain some more attention in the media or public, if the charity crowdfunding will reach a good amount of Bitcoins.

Thank you. :) One of the largest and most respected news media in the country - Capital.bg - published an article about it (web and print). Here it is (http://www.capital.bg/biznes/kompanii/2015/12/25/2675180_koito_kopae_bitcoin_drugimu/) (although in Bulgarian).

Hello everyone,

I am doing an AMA in ZapChain and am open to you inquiries. :)

Submit your question here: ZapChain (https://www.zapchain.com/a/c0kqcJGrh1/OARb5tNwHw).

great project - using BTC for charity projects
100% transparency?

I still cannot see how you going to do the screening of these charities? The validation of these charities are the most important part of this whole

initiative and you should spend a lot more attention to that part. People will not donate a cent, if they not sure those donations are going to legitimate

charities. I like your website and I like your idea and the passion behind it, but it needs a little more work on the most crucial part... validation.  ;)

We strive to achieve it, although it is a matter of definition. Our goal is to be fully accountable to our pseydo-anonymous donors and make sure that all generated funds go to the charity goal, stated on the website. We go through a KYC process with our partner non-profit organizations and establish contractual relations with them.

Thank you!

Hey, thank you for you comment. Charities (NPOs) validation is of utmost importance for BitHope.org. You can look at the form (https://bithope.org/uploads/suggest_campaign/ApplicationForm-TheBitHopeFoundation.doc) that charities need to fill out in order to start a conversation with us. We demand a number of official documents clarifying the legal person's structure, officers, activities and intentions. We also go through an informal check with our partners from the NPO sphere. If a non-profit organization is considered appropriate for BitHope.org - we send them a contract, establishing rights and obligations for both parties. We require the submission of third-party verifiable information about the spending of the funds and more informal info such as photos and textual explanations. If at any time we have reason to believe that an NPO is dishonest, we have the right not to provide them with the generated funds. The reasons for any such decision should be clearly stated, supported and court-applicable.

You are absolutely right that NPO verification is essential. We have gone through such a process with Google and GlobalGiving and have understood their verification procedures. We can say that our requirements are at  least as high (and even higher) than the ones used by the aforementioned organizations.

Kind regards!

Hey, we have published an article in Medium about the current blockchain hype and the important role of bitcoin microtransactions.

You can read it here (https://medium.com/@BitHope.org/bitcoin-microtransactions-the-future-is-now-870b503d082d#.yb2hksrfd).

Regards!

I have filled the form contained in your site. However i havent received any response from your end and its over 4 days

May i know how often support tickets are seen and monitored

Great initiative.

Good luck with your effort and website.

Regards

Duke

Nice name and nice site.  I am idealistic with Bitcoin and these are exactly the kind of initiatives I like.  I work in the non-profit/charity fundraising sector and it always helps to have as many ways to make a donation as possible.  Bravo and I will keep an eye on the progress.

Hey, sorry for the late reply. For some reason we do not receive notification mails for messages in bitcointalk. We have received a few contact form mails in the past weeks. We ignore the ones we consider as SPAM. Please send us your message here: info@bithope.org. We might have overlooked you mail, for which we apologize.

Thank you so much! We really appreciate it.

Thank you as well! :) Any positive comment means a lot to us, really.

We are happy and excited to announce that thanks to the kindness of bitcoin owners, we have successfully completed our first charitable campaign! Donors from all over the world united! Bitcoin at its best! Look at this (https://bithope.org/news/our-first-successful-campaign).

Hey guys, we are happy to announce that BitHope.org was featured in the "We believe in good" topic of the highest rating news emission in Bulgaria - bTV News. You can watch the video here (https://www.facebook.com/bithope.org/videos/254892348185608/), although it is in Bulgarian.

Hello everyone!

We are really happy to announce our partnership with IndieSquare, the world's first Counterparty mobile wallet! This is an amazing opportunity to be part of a vibrant and growing [Suspicious link removed]munity.

The BitHope Foundation has created its own token on the Counterparty platform. The currency is called HOPECOIN and anyone can receive it in exchange for a donation through our IndieSquare button.

Learn more by reading this article (https://bithope.org/news/we-are-now-part-of-the-counterparty-project) at BitHope.org.

Hello guys!

We are excited to announce our first blockchain charitable raffle. Donate bitcoins and win a TREZOR! Learn more at our Trezor Charitable Raffle (https://bithope.org/giveaways/trezor-charitable-raffle/index.php?utm_medium=forum&utm_source=bitcointalk&utm_campaign=trezor-bitcointalk-raffle&utm_content=post) page.

Regards!

Hello everyone!

We are happy to announce the completion of two bitcoin-fundraising charitable campaigns just before the end of 2016!

Learn more by reading the short post at BitHope.org (https://bithope.org/news/completed-bitcoin-campaigns-before-years-end).

Regards!