Crypto Firms Step Up to Support Hong Kong Fire Victims with Millions in Donations
- Crypto exchanges pledged over HK$24.78M to support victims of the deadly Hong Kong fire.
- Bitget, Binance, and KuCoin led donations, while Animoca Brands launched a token-based fundraising campaign.
- Additional support came from Tron’s Justin Sun and broader Web3 communities via EVM and Solana wallets.
Leading cryptocurrency exchanges and Web3 companies in the global digital market are stepping up to support the affected parties following the disastrous fire at the Hong Kong apartment complex, Wang Fuk Court, in the Tai Po District.
The blaze, which started on Wednesday and raged for two days, engulfed seven high-rise buildings and resulted in at least 128 deaths, making it the deadliest fire in Hong Kong in 80 years.
Web3 Community Supports Hong Kong
In a show of solidarity, the aggregate donation from the three big centralised crypto exchanges (CEXes) stands at HK$24.78 million, or approximately $3.19 million. Leading in the donation pledge stands Bitget at HK$11.8 million or $1.5 million, followed by Binance at HK$10 million or $1.28 million, and lastly, KuCoin at HK$2 million or $256,000.
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen posted on X, “We stand in support of Hong Kong and wish all affected residents a speedy recovery and reconstruction of homes, as our Bitget family cares about all people in HKSAR regardless of nationality!”
Animoca Brands, the Web3 firm, has started its own fundraising campaign using tokens, where cryptocurrency owners can contribute through Ethereum Virtual Machine wallets and Solana wallets.
The fundraising exercise will run until Dec. 2, and all collected funds will be converted to Hong Kong dollars and donated to the Hong Kong Red Cross by Dec. 3. So far, the EVM wallet has raised $171,000, while the Solana wallet has raised $1,500, according to Nansen.
Tron Network founder Justin Sun has also pledged support, though he has not disclosed the amount.
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Crypto Donations as a Disaster Lifeline
The use of cryptocurrency has continued to increase in terms of relief efforts, especially where there are no banking services. In 2024, cryptocurrency donations surpassed $1 billion, much of which was directed at the earthquake victims in both Thailand and Myanmar.
In early April 2024, Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao contributed close to $600,000 to help those who were affected by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in neighboring Thailand and Myanmar. In October 2024, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin donated above $180,000 in Ether to biotech charity Kanro.
The issue in the Hong Kong fire relief efforts demonstrates how the cryptocommunity can leverage digital currencies in order to offer rapid aid solutions in critical scenarios.
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