With the launch of a new Cryptocurrency fund, UNICEF now accepts donations in bitcoin, ether

Through a newly-established Cryptocurrency fund, the United Nations Children’s Fund will now be able to receive, hold and disburse donations in cryptocurrency. Specifically, the platforms ether and bitcoin have been green-lit for donations in cryptocurrency by UNICEF. With this, the UN Children’s Fund becomes the first UN organisation to hold and make transactions in cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is “a significant and welcome step forward in humanitarian and development work,” Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s Executive Director, said in a statement. “If digital economies and currencies have the potential to shape the lives of coming generations, it is important that we explore the opportunities they offer.” [caption id=“attachment_7483191” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] In January this year, Facebook prohibited all ads on its platform that promote cryptocurrency.[/caption] As soon as the Fund was announced, the first contribution came from the Ethereum Foundation and went towards three grantees under UNICEF’s Innovation Fund, and an initiative to connect schools worldwide to the internet. Under newly-established guidelines, the cryptocurrency will be held in the Cryptocurrency fund in the same cryptocurrency, and also disbursed for projects without any currency conversions. “(The Ethereum Foundation) is excited to demonstrate the power of what (Ethereum) and blockchain technology can do for communities around the world… we’re taking action with the Cryptofund to improve access to basic needs, rights, and resources,” Aya Miyaguchi, Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, said in a statement. “We aim to support the research and development of the Ethereum platform, and to grow the community of those that benefit from a technology that will better countless lives and industries in the years to come. We’d like to thank UNICEF and the UNICEF family of national committees for their leadership as we create real progress together,” Miyaguchi added. (Also read:  Cryptocurrency still does not have a blanket ban in India but a draft is being worked upon )