UNICEF Will not Convert Bitcoin Donations to Fiat Currency

[hugeblack]

I am not sure of the authenticity of this news, but if it is correct it is a good approach from that organization. It is also intended to use cryptocurrencies to finance open-source technology projects^[1].

The goal is to use cryptocurrencies to fund open source technology projects. All contributions made in cryptocurrencies will be held in crypto, and even be distributed as the same cryptocurrency as well

This part, which impressed me because they used BTC & ETH. And not just accepting useless currencies

As of right now, the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund supports donations in both Bitcoin and Ethereum

Does anyone know how accurate the news is? How much money has been donated by cryptocurrencies?

[1] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-launches-cryptocurrency-fund

[slaman29]

Seems pretty accurate if it comes from unicef itself. And I love it too. This is real adoption, not some stupid Bitpay adoption like most other people did (not that it's a bad thing either but you know!). This way they can truly publish transparent and fully accountable records of donations too! OF course, eventually it will be sold by whoever receives it for research but that's amazing!

[joniboini]

It looks like they already have three projects that will receive the donations.

There is no public data about how much UNICEF donated, but it seems like UNICEF is publishing a page of reports about their funding program[1].

[1] https://www.unicef.org/innovation/stories/Fundblockchain6months

[josephdd1]

It is good that they want to not convert, but has anyone thought of what they would do with all the donations if not convert? They cannot and will not hand a starving kid in Africa a few satoshi to end their hunger. They must be total transparent with their plans. Without that much, I do not know how many donations they will get.

[BitHodler]

It might be true, for now, but I want to see them again when the price takes some more beatings. It's a volatile market so it makes sense to convert at least half of what they get to fiat, otherwise the donations lose utility.

They are a charity, not speculators on the price.... unless they quickly put their donations to work after receiving them, it could turn out to be a bitter experiment even though their intentions to hodl and spend are respectable.

[robelneo]

I am not sure of the authenticity of this news, but if it is correct it is a good approach from that organization. It is also intended to use cryptocurrencies to finance open-source technology projects^[1].

The goal is to use cryptocurrencies to fund open source technology projects. All contributions made in cryptocurrencies will be held in crypto, and even be distributed as the same cryptocurrency as well

This part, which impressed me because they used BTC & ETH. And not just accepting useless currencies

As of right now, the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund supports donations in both Bitcoin and Ethereum

Does anyone know how accurate the news is? How much money has been donated by cryptocurrencies?

[1] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-launches-cryptocurrency-fund

It comes from their official website so we can accept that the news is true, there is another thread like this in other categories, they are using the blockchain technology to trace and verify all the donations, something a fiat donation cannot do, it's another milestone for the community, and since this is the United Nations, we can now say that  UN is now recognizing this technology that can be used in many ways like this one.

[buwaytress]

If they're any good, and they are at least not as bad as others in the space. I come from a IO background so UN agencies aren't necessarily the ones with the best reputation in transparency, but it will be very interesting to see a first final report (or annual one anyway) this year from a UN organisation with financials that include crypto. Hopefully, they even publish wallets and we can sort it out ourselves.

But yeah, finally, someone who accepts crypto without meddlesome BitPay!

[shield132]

Seems pretty accurate if it comes from unicef itself. And I love it too. This is real adoption, not some stupid Bitpay adoption like most other people did (not that it's a bad thing either but you know!). This way they can truly publish transparent and fully accountable records of donations too! OF course, eventually it will be sold by whoever receives it for research but that's amazing!

I agree with you that it's really a true adoption. Unicef is huge organisation, known around the world, they also buy a lot of resources and do a lot of things for improving quality of a lot of people. In overall, this will lead other companies to accept bitcoin/ethereum payments in order to get under Unicef's attention and become potential supplier of them and also to make Unicef their potential user. So to be fair this was the most positive news around bitcoin adoption which I have ever read.

[Quidat]

If they're any good, and they are at least not as bad as others in the space. I come from a IO background so UN agencies aren't necessarily the ones with the best reputation in transparency, but it will be very interesting to see a first final report (or annual one anyway) this year from a UN organisation with financials that include crypto. Hopefully, they even publish wallets and we can sort it out ourselves.

But yeah, finally, someone who accepts crypto without meddlesome BitPay!

I doubt that they wont consider out that kind of transparency when it comes to the funds being accumulated and how much is being
spent or being used because it would really able for the public to calculate up which means if ever there are some unjustified values
then they can easily be sued up thats why when it comes to transparency,im not surprised why they arent showing anything but  at least
we do know on what they are targeting into.

[bitmover]

It is accurate, as it says in their official website:

Under the structure of the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund, contributions will be held in their cryptocurrency of contribution, and granted out in the same cryptocurrency.
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-launches-cryptocurrency-fund

It was announced when they released the fund.

[1Referee]

This is what gets me excited!

The importance of this shouldn't be underestimated because it usually only takes one large entity to set the first step where the rest follows. Another important aspect is that it reduces the number of shorts as 1) BitPay & Co don't have to short Bitcoin to hedge a loss in value, and 2) there is less spot selling pressure when they do end up liquidating their coins.

In the end, this is what Bitcoin is for, to be accepted and spent without any intermediaries.

[squatter]

It's very cool to see they'll be holding and disbursing donations in cryptocurrencies. It's been a while since I saw anyone launch Bitcoin support without a middleman like BitPay.

Does anyone know how accurate the news is? How much money has been donated by cryptocurrencies?

[1] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-launches-cryptocurrency-fund

It's probably accurate given that it came from UNICEF. The fund was just launched 6 days ago, and the press release suggests they were yet to receive their first donations yet.

There is no public data about how much UNICEF donated, but it seems like UNICEF is publishing a page of reports about their funding program[1].

[1] https://www.unicef.org/innovation/stories/Fundblockchain6months

That page is pretty vague -- it just says each company receives up to $100,000 in tranches over the course of a year. I wonder if they'll be publishing more detailed info.

[marcotheminer]

It is good that they want to not convert, but has anyone thought of what they would do with all the donations if not convert? They cannot and will not hand a starving kid in Africa a few satoshi to end their hunger. They must be total transparent with their plans. Without that much, I do not know how many donations they will get.

Rather they mean all crypto is used for crypto-related/tech activities in good-moral aims. Doesn't seem to want to mix it with donations that go to helping people directly/immediately.

[Twinkledoe]

It is good that they want to not convert, but has anyone thought of what they would do with all the donations if not convert? They cannot and will not hand a starving kid in Africa a few satoshi to end their hunger. They must be total transparent with their plans. Without that much, I do not know how many donations they will get.

Rather they mean all crypto is used for crypto-related/tech activities in good-moral aims. Doesn't seem to want to mix it with donations that go to helping people directly/immediately.

This is good initiative from the UNICEF itself. Those blockchain companies that are doing good with their respective businesses can easily send donations to them. It is mentioned from the article that Ethereum Foundation is one of the firsts that will support this initiative. I hope this specific project will reach out more individuals that badly need their support. A good impact of crypto indeed!

[Jating]

Seems pretty accurate if it comes from unicef itself. And I love it too. This is real adoption, not some stupid Bitpay adoption like most other people did (not that it's a bad thing either but you know!). This way they can truly publish transparent and fully accountable records of donations too! OF course, eventually it will be sold by whoever receives it for research but that's amazing!

I think the OP is asking how accurate that statement from merkle saying that crypto are not going to be converted to fiat. So far I haven't found any statement from UNICEF, it just states that they are going to accept crypto as donations.

But I would tend to agree that it's good to hear that such big organisations such as UNICEF started to accept crypto, maybe who knows, NGO's or other world governing organisations would start to accept crypto as well because of this precedent.

[Kyraishi]

Oh damn. I remember looking at the article or press release and not thinking much because opening yourself up to a new community was just for the money and free donations you'd get.

I'm surprised they will be holding the coins - it makes a lot of sense to sell and help other people. This is a sign that charities and bigger companies actually understand and like adopting the new technologies we are seeing, which is very cool.

[BitHodler]

This is a sign that charities and bigger companies actually understand and like adopting the new technologies we are seeing, which is very cool.

It's a good marketing stunt in the sense that they bet on people to donate more because the general sentiment here is that Bitcoin enthusiasts don't want to see the coins they donate be sold for fiat.

I sincerely hope that it works out for them, but I have my doubts due to the volatile nature of this market---the damage in case of another major crash (which is likely to happen) is that less people will be helped with that money.

Stablecoin donations could be stored for a long time, but with most non stable crypto assets that's not a smart thing to do if your sole goal is to utilize donations in the most efficient/effective possible ways.

[dothebeats]

This in itself is already a good news considering that UNICEF is already supporting the growth of organizations to which they will allocate the funds to plus the idea that cryptocurrencies can be used as is without having the need to convert to fiat. UNICEF has not been that transparent to those who they are planning to fund but their reports usually come out after the success of the projects they have invested/donated to, so there's that. I'm keen to know how would they move forward from here, and whether they are going to spread the word out or not.

[DiamondCardz]

This is what gets me excited!

The importance of this shouldn't be underestimated because it usually only takes one large entity to set the first step where the rest follows. Another important aspect is that it reduces the number of shorts as 1) BitPay & Co don't have to short Bitcoin to hedge a loss in value, and 2) there is less spot selling pressure when they do end up liquidating their coins.

In the end, this is what Bitcoin is for, to be accepted and spent without any intermediaries.

This reflects my opinions on this very well! I thought that this thread was going to be poorly backed up when I clicked on it but seeing that it's coming from the mouth of UNICEF itself gets me really excited. A child organisation of the UN using cryptocurrency as an actual means of exchange - not just accepting crypto donations and selling the crypto off immediately, but actually using it as a currency - is a great step forward, and this is the kind of stuff that many people on this forum could learn from