This holiday season, fintech provider Unbanked will be enabling crypto donations for Toys for Tots, a program run by the United States Marine Corps that collects toys to distribute to disadvantaged children.
In a Thursday announcement, Unbanked said it would be allowing users to donate cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as part of a fundraising effort for Toys for Tots. Until Dec. 20, good Samaritans can send any amount of money towards the program, which has given 604 million toys to 272 million children across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
We are honored to support the incredible work of @ToysForTots_USA this #holidayseason
— Unbanked (@UnbankedHQ) December 2, 2021
We have set up a #crypto payment profile to enable donations in 28 #cryptocurrencies for this wonderful cause ♥️
Donate here - https://t.co/jgPj47zIxy https://t.co/UxOt84klhY pic.twitter.com/APLVMLvzea
“The cryptocurrency bull market has been good to all of us in this industry and this holiday season is the perfect time to pay it forward,” said Unbanked co-CEO Ian Kane. “We naturally wanted to use the benefits of crypto to give back during this holiday season.”
Unbanked does not exclusively represent all crypto users’ philanthropic endeavors, however. A project operating under the name Elf Token reported it has received $41,200 to be used toward purchases for Toys for Tots as of Saturday, with a goal of raising $100,000 over the holiday season. In addition, the Giving Block, a platform that allows non-profit organizations and charities to accept donations in crypto, currently enables donations using many tokens for the toy collection program.
End of the day. 100 toys donated, $1,200 in value bringing our total donations to date to $41,200.@ToysForTots_USA only recommendation is that you might need larger bins for @elf_token since we are not stopping anytime soon #ElfToken #ElfArmy pic.twitter.com/gQycjAMCNW
— Elf Token (@elf_token) December 4, 2021
Related: Charity platform expects significantly larger crypto than fiat donations for Giving Tuesday
Charities, universities, faith-based organizations and others have stepped up the number and amount of donations in crypto as part of Giving Tuesday this year. Cointelegraph reported on Thursday that the Giving Block raised $2.4 million in crypto this year, representing a 583% increase from the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in 2020. The platform is aiming to raise more than $100 million in crypto donations by the end of the year.