Turkey earthquake victims to receive aid from crypto firms

The devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey on Monday have killed over 4,300 people and injured thousands.

As countries around the world sent aid and rescue workers to the country, several crypto firms such as BitMEX, Binance, Bitfinex, Bybit, and many others have also come forward to help.

Bitfinex said it is working on an aid package in support of those affected by the earthquake, while Bybit said its aid is on the way to the affected region.

Bitfinex, Tether, Keet, and Synonym have reportedly pledged $270,000 worth of aid (in fiat currency) for relief and recovery efforts in the region. Bitget has reportedly said it will send around $50,000 worth of aid (also in fiat).

Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said, "We [Binance] will see how to help,", adding that the team is working on a solution to help those affected.

BitMEX said it is donating the proceeds of its weekly trading competition to the Red Crescent movement, which aids in disaster relief.

Turkey crypto market

Turkey is the largest market for cryptocurrency in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, whose citizens have contributed to it receiving $192 billion from July 2021 to June 2022.

As per Chainalysis' 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Turkey was assigned 12th place among all countries, with a year-on-year crypto transaction volume growth of 10.5%.

Although Turkey has banned crypto as a form of legal tender, crypto ownership in the country rose from 25% to 40%, per the 2022 Statista Global Consumer Survey. Notably, Turkey has the 7th highest inflation rate.

Crypto exchanges rushing to Turkey's earthquake victims isn't the first time nations will receive aid from digital asset exchanges or in the form of crypto.

During the Russia-Ukraine conflict in late 2022, the Ukrainian government reportedly received donations worth up to $54 million in the form of crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC, Ether (ETH), USDT, Solana (SOL), and others.

Earlier, during the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 in India, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated around $1 billion worth of Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens to a relief fund in India to fight the pandemic.

(The story was updated to correct a typo)