Earlier this month, headlines were dominated by reports of a devastating earthquake that struck Turkey. Trails of destruction were visible in the area for days after the earthquake. Several communities and individuals have been severely impacted by the aforementioned natural disaster.
In light of the aforementioned tragedy, Binance, one of the world’s leading crypto exchange platforms, announced via Twitter that they would be airdropping a hundred dollars worth of BNB tokens to respective Binance users currently residing in the regions that were deemed to be heavily hit by the earthquake.
Adana, Adyaman, Diyarbakr, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Anlurfa, and Osmaniye were reportedly heavily impacted. Aside from residing in the cities mentioned, the user must also submit Proof of Address submissions made before February 6 in order to receive “assistance” from Binance.
Binance has acknowledged that Proof of Address may not be the most accurate method of locating their users who have been severely affected by the earthquake, but it is still the method that they intend to use. The upcoming donations are expected to total around $5 million, or 94 million Turkish lira.
Aside from the BNB tokens that will be airdropped to eligible affected users, the Binance Charity has also set up a public donation address that allegedly encourages people to donate to the Emergency Earthquake Appeal using various cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, BNB, BUSD, and XRP.
Victims in Need
Aside from the structural damage caused by the earthquake, it has also made it more difficult for affected individuals to access traditional banking services, particularly when they are most in need of medical supplies and food.
In light of this, cryptocurrency transfers are now an emerging method of delivering financial aid to disaster victims, as they are quick, cost-effective, transparent, and unrestricted, making them well-suited for providing aid in emergency situations.
In light of the aforementioned emerging trend, other companies and organizations in the crypto industry have already begun to plan their own approaches to assisting the victims of the Turkish earthquake. One of these companies is the cryptocurrency exchange platform Bitget, which has already pledged 1 million Turkish lira ($53,000) to relief efforts.
