One of the deadliest earthquakes seen in recent history stroke Syria and southern Turkey on February 6, killing more than 8,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Amid its charity actions in Ukraine, Binance, the most popular cryptocurrency exchange, will airdrop BNB to the residents of ten cities that have experienced the most dramatic effects of the disaster.
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Every Binance user from Diyarbakır, Adana, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Hatay, Osmaniye and Gaziantep will receive BNB worth $100. So far, the company plans to distribute 94,000,000 TRY or $5 million. To identify eligible users, Binance will use proof of address (POA) completed before the earthquake. In its blog post, the Binance team admitted this method is not entirely accurate for the distribution of funds, but stated that there is no better option at the moment.
Furthermore, Binance Charity has posted an emergency earthquake appeal on its official website to raise funds and provide further financial assistance to the victims. The organization accepts donations in ETH, BTC, BNB, XRP and BUSD. The collected money will be converted to TRY and handed over to a partner NGO.
At press time, 272 donors have already contributed to the pool, which currently has 0.76 BTC worth around $17,520.
Binance Charity claims to be "the world's first blockchain-enabled donation platform" The organization aims to ensure 100% transparency and fair distribution of donated funds. The team behind Binance Charity uses Web3 technology to address the burning issues of the global donation process, such as high transfer fees, corruption, the poor reputation of nonprofits and any other obstacles that may prevent people in need from receiving the aid donors are willing to provide.
Changpeng Zhao aka CZ, the co-founder and CEO of Binance, commented on the company's charity activities for the official Binance blog:
"The recent earthquakes in Turkey have had a devastating impact on so many people and communities. We hope that our efforts will bring some relief to those affected. We are also calling on our industry peers to once again come together to offer support in these times of crisis."
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Many other Web3 companies have not ignored the tragic events either. For example, crypto exchange Bitget donated 1 million TRY. Bitfinex, another crypto exchange, Synonym, a software company specializing in solutions for Bitcoin, Keet, a decentralized messenger and video chat, and Tether, a blockchain-based platform for low-cost transfers between fiat money and cryptocurrencies, together committed 5 million TRY.
The team behind crypto trading app OKX donated 1 million TRY, while Avalanche, an open-source proof-of-stake blockchain, committed $1 million. According to numerous reports, crypto exchange KuCoin also contributed to the charity campaign.
