Italian Startup Helperbit Supports NGO Legambiente to Raise Bitcoin for Natural Disasters
Legambiente, the first non-profit organization in Italy, has teamed up with Helperbit, a natural disaster management platform, to accept bitcoin donations for natural disasters in a new campaign.
Titled ‘The Rebirth Has a Young Heart ’, it is dedicated to youth entrepreneurs in the Italian areas that were affected by the earthquakes in 2016. Through the use of blockchain technology, Helperbit is helping Legambiente to raise funds, offering donors transparency and traceability of economic flows.
On August 24, Italy was struck by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck the center of Italy between the Sibillni Park and the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga Park, killing at least 240 people. This earthquake is comparable to the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake in the Abruzzo region in central Italy, which killed over 300 people.
Speaking to CCN.com, co-founder of Helperbit, Guido Baroncini, said that after the central Italy earthquake efforts have always been aimed at finding the fastest way to make the platform operational and to help the affected population.
For this reason, we started contacting non-profit organizations involved in the relief and we found smart and open-minded people in Legambiente that quickly understood the potentialities of this innovation.
To embark on the partnership, Legambiente relied on Helperbit with the creation of a multisignature wallet on the Helperbit platform. Not knowing much about the digital currency, but attracted to the possibility of more transparency to their activities, the multisig enabled the NGO to accept bitcoin. Thus, allowing direct international donations and monitoring in real-time the total amount raised.
According to Baroncini, charity organizations don’t usually trust bitcoin and in many cases the bureaucracy is a barrier to entry. However, the partnership with Legambiente demonstrates that it’s just a question of determination and approach with the advantages worth the effort.
So far, the campaign has raised over 40,000 Euros in traditional payment methods, donated 23,000 Euros, and collected more than 0.3 bitcoins in donations.
Baroncini states that he hopes small and big, local and international NGOs will follow Legambiente.
[NGOs] have to understand that trust is the real value that can be achieved only with complete transparency and it doesn’t matter where they are based, physical barriers are no more a limitation and everyone can support their work.
It is hoped that once the campaign seed round closes Helperbit will be able to go live with their entire platform offering the tools needed for the audit of the donation and the smart contracts services the startup has in mind.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
