Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance reports that it has raised over $1.4 million in its relief fund efforts for victims in Japan. Starting in late June, heavy rains in southwest Japan resulted in devastating mud flows and floods across the region. Over 8 million people were advised to evacuate. 225 people have thus far been confirmed dead, with 13 people still missing. Nearly 20,000 houses have been damaged. This is the worst flood disaster in Japan since the 1982 Nagasaki flood, which killed 299 people.
“On July 8, Binance called for actions to help remedy the disaster,” reads a recent Medium post from the exchange. “With donors’ generous support, we have raised roughly US$410,000 USD more in crypto-donations at that time in 7 days [sic], making a total donation valued at US$1,410,000 consisting of various types of ERC20 Tokens.”
Binance reached out to numerous NGOs, for-profit organizations, and government agencies to support the frontline donation operation. Donations were completed on October 15th, with a total of $56,700,000 JPY (63.03 BTC or 169.85 ETH) donated. Over 41,200 victims across the prefectures of Okayama, Ehime and Hiroshima are said to have received help from the effort.
Numerous partners were credited for support in the effort, including Peace Winds Japan, Momotarou Fund, Open Japan, Kure City Office and Bic Camera. The first transfer was sent on July 19th.
“Due to the immediate need to support the victims, the first donation was carried out with the help of the local supporter, Miss Bitcoin Mai,” reads the post. “Binance has transferred 61.09 BTC (equivalent to 50 million JPY at that time) to her Bitcoin account. Then, she converted BTC to JPY and bank-transferred 25 million JPY to Peace Winds Japan and 25 million JPY to Momotaro Fund.”
The second round of donations was completed using cryptocurrency directly. Binance transferred 169.85 ETH (equivalent to 5.3 million JPY) to a crypto account opened by Open Japan on August 31st. That same day, Binance began sending funds to Bic Camera to procure appliances and temporary shelters in Kure.
“It wasn’t difficult to get our account set up, and once everything was ready Binance contacted us to proceed with the donation,” said Open Japan. “It was carried out instantly, and after confirming the transfer we were able to convert it to Japanese yen. Receiving this donation left us with a deep impression of cryptocurrency: both its growing effect on our world and its potential.”
Binance concludes the post by pointing out that there is still a lot of work left to do.
“The disaster will have long term impact,” writes Binance. “The project is still ongoing. We will keep donating to relevant crises cause the disaster occurred [sic].”
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