Crypto aid for Turkey exceeds $4.5M in one week

The crypto community donated over $4.5 million in seven days to help Turkey with disaster relief.

Three wallets were created to collect donations on Feb. 7. Total amount donated sits at slightly over $4.5 million at the time of writing.

Donations

Avalanche (AVAX), which Turkish professor Emin Gün Sirer founded, donated $1 million, while Waves (WAVES) founder Sasha.waves donated $50,000 on the first day.

Crypto exchange platforms operating in the region Icrypex, Bitget Turkey, Bitci, MexC Turkey, Bitfinex Turkey, OKX, and Gate.io collectively donated $371,499, which equates to 7 million Turkish Lira.

Turkish and global crypto influencers and many others also contributed thousands of dollars in crypto to help with disaster relief in the region.

Background

After three significant earthquakes struck Turkey, a Turkish singer Haluk Levent persuaded the country’s financial watchdog (MASAK) to allow collecting crypto donations, which is currently illegal in the country.

MASAK allowed three crypto wallets to collect donations for a week. Wallets belong to Levent, who publishes all significant contributions and expenses on his Twitter account.

Journalist at CryptoSlate

Zeynep is an academic who turned to crypto in 2018. Originating in social sciences, she is especially interested in the social impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies and strongly believes in their transmuting power.