Key Takeaways
- A $200,000 BNB charity fund from 2018 has grown to $39 million.
- The funds were raised by Binance’s Blockchain Charity Foundation (BCF) for terminal cancer patients in Malta.
- Legal disputes in 2021 overshadowed the initiative, and the donations remain unclaimed.
As BNB, Binance’s native token, hit a fresh all-time high above $1,375 on Oct. 13, attention turned to a long-forgotten donation fund from the token’s early days.
What began as a $200,000 charity drive for Maltese patients with terminal cancer in 2018 has grown to nearly $39 million—yet the money remains untouched.
The discovery was resurfaced by Conor, an executive at Coinbase, who urged Maltese citizens to demand accountability over the funds, which were raised in partnership with the Maltese government’s Community Chest Fund (MCCF)
The 2018 Campaign
The Binance Blockchain Charity Foundation (BCF), launched to demonstrate the utility of crypto for social impact, partnered with Malta’s MCCF in 2018 to raise donations for cancer patients.
The campaign collected approximately 30,644 BNB, along with other crypto assets, and promised direct support to around 15,000 patients.
At the time, BNB traded at under $7. Today, those same tokens are valued at tens of millions of dollars — $39 million, to be exact.
Legal Disputes Overshadowed the Donations
The charity faced turbulence in 2021, when Maltese President George Vella accused Binance of failing to deliver more than $8 million in pledged donations.
The dispute escalated into a lawsuit, which alleged that BCF had not filed accounts for three years.
Eventually, the missing records were produced, and the lawsuit was withdrawn.
Investigations confirmed that three accounts tied to the fund contained around $8 million worth of assets.
Now, with the value of BNB having surged, the original $200,000 donation has ballooned nearly 200-fold.
Despite the extraordinary appreciation, the funds have not been distributed, leaving Maltese citizens questioning why a campaign meant to aid cancer patients has sat idle for seven years.
BNB Defies Market Turmoil
The newfound focus on the donation comes on the heels of BNB’s market performance.
While most cryptocurrencies struggled to recover from the historic Oct. 10 liquidation crash, BNB climbed to a record high of $1,375, overtaking XRP to secure the third-largest spot in global market capitalization.
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Prashant Jha is a seasoned crypto journalist based in Delhi, India, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science Engineering. Passionate about the evolving world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, he has been a dedicated voice in the industry since 2018. Prashant’s expertise lies in regulatory reporting, where he unravels complex legal and financial developments with clarity and precision. Before joining CCN in 2024, he honed his craft at Cointelegraph, establishing himself as a trusted name in crypto journalism.
His coverage spans major industry events, including the high-profile collapses of FTX, Three Arrows Capital (3AC), and LUNA, offering readers insightful analyses of their regulatory and market implications. Prashant’s technical background enables him to bridge the gap between intricate blockchain technology and its real-world applications, making his work accessible to novices and experts.
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