Crypto Crash Encourages ETH Holders To GIVE Ethereum Away

The November crypto crash has had a very hard impact on Ethereum. Most famed as ‘the second biggest cryptocurrency in the world’, during the crash XRP flew past ETH, bringing it down to a more humble third place. Indeed, with the full effect of the crash now looming over the markets, Ethereum remains the third biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, no longer second from top.

In terms of value, the crash has had a great impact too, prior to the start of the crash, Ethereum registered values of around $220.00 on a regular basis, although during the depth of the crash, Ethereum dipped below $104.00, losing over 50% of its value in around 20 days, leaving investors a little winded. As a result of this, people have lost a lot of money. Those who bought in recently have surely lost 50% of their investment, those who bought in even earlier when the price of Ethereum was much higher however have lost significantly more.

Even so though, with so much loss in mind, new research has found that during the crash, Ethereum holders have been more generous than ever when it comes to making Ethereum donations. People are literally giving Ethereum away.

According to CCN, WeTrust have carried out some research into the sorts of charitable donations that have been happening within the Ethereum blockchain.

Who are WeTrust?

WeTrust are a United States based blockchain firm that makes the most of blockchain technologies by providing financial services to a range of clients. Whilst research isn’t their primary focus, from recent reports we can see that WeTrust are putting a particular focus on carrying out further research with regards to behaviour on the blockchain. According to the WeTrust website:

“Digital technology has enabled revolutionary changes, yet billions of people around the world remain unbanked, without access to the savings and credit that drives the modern economy. Decentralized money has been created, and Blockchain technology holds untapped promise of providing fair, efficient financial services on a global scale. WeTrust aims to provide decentralized financial services and create a more inclusive financial system which allows anyone to access fair, equitable financial services without an expensive trusted third party.”

According to CCN:

“WeTrust is a blockchain company that allows crypto holders to donate ETH directly to nonprofits. It commissioned the survey by Pollfish in honor of Giving Tuesday, November 27. Its newest platform, WeTrust Spring accepts cryptocurrency donations in Ethereum, although the company has plans to roll this out to other cryptocurrencies in the future. Notably, among the WeTrust advisors are Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, and Cornell University professor and IC3 Co-Director Emin Gün Sirer.”

Research findings

As stated, WeTrust have published a number of research findings that suggest Ethereum investors have been very generous in making Ethereum donations of late to various different charities that accept cryptocurrency payments. As much as 77% of the 1,000 investors that were surveyed by WeTrust stated that they have made a charitable donation with their Ethereum. Of the 1,000, 79% admitted that they would rather make a charitable donation with Ethereum than purchase a Cryptokitty, so it seems just 2% of those investors are still yet to donate.

According to CCN, here are the specific findings from the WeTrust research:

https://soundcloud.com/cryptodaily/crypto-crash-encourages-eth-holders-to-give-ethereum-away

• “90.5 percent had already made at least one crypto donation to a charitable cause.”

• “77 percent are interested in making more crypto donations to a cause that aligns with their values.”

• “55 percent say that the crypto community is more generous than the rest of the population.”

• “62 percent believe that all charities should accept crypto donations as an easier and more efficient way to raise funds.”
• “The number of crypto holders interested in buying a Cryptokitty is still pretty high (71 percent), but that is outstripped by those who would rather donate to a non-profit at 79 percent.”

It seems that the overall falling markets of 2018 haven’t been enough to knock the generosity out of people!

Perhaps the falling value of Ethereum has been able to encourage more people to make charitable donations? Surely it’s far easier to donate Ethereum when it is valued less, as in theory, you’re able to make smaller and more controlled donations. Or even more so, maybe this is evidence that investors really aren’t worried about the falling markets? As a matter of fact, they are so confident in their Ethereum investments that they are happy to just give it away.

Ethereum Adoption

This is a sign of a great level of Ethereum adoption as more and more charitable causes move towards accepting payments in cryptocurrency. Indeed, Ethereum isn’t the only payment option available, however it’s a reliable one and one that seems to be quite popular based on the research published by WeTrust. Charities will play a huge role in the overall adoption of all cryptocurrencies so, I’m pretty sure many charities will be glad to look at this research and see that accepting cryptocurrency donations does seem to make a difference!