We have received our first donation in cryptocurrency marking our entry into this innovative way of giving.
The donation came from Alex, one of our generous supporters, who said:
“Noah’s Ark is local to us and having visited to see the amazing work they do to help seriously ill children get the most out of every day we are delighted to have donated. We chose to donate in Bitcoin, becoming the first donors to do so, with the hope of inspiring others with crypto to support this incredibly worthy cause.”
Alex generously donated 1 Bitcoin (BTC) and is encouraging his network to give to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in this way too.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Millions of people in the UK currently own some form of cryptoasset, which is leading to an increase in charity supporters who wish to use cryptocurrency to give to the causes they care about the most. Cryptocurrency is a type of digital asset used online where ownership and transactions are made using encrypted code across a blockchain technology. Blockchain is a shared unchangeable record that tracks the exchange of assets. The benefits of blockchain are that it is extremely fast, as information is updated instantly. It’s also immutable, in that the information it contains about past transactions cannot be easily falsified, because it is shared and no single organisation or individual holds the ‘key’ to the blockchain. There are no legal restrictions on accepting cryptocurrency and although cryptoassets are not formally regulated, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for ensuring third-party crypto firms have anti-money-laundering and terrorist financing processes in place. The Charity Commission and HMRC have issued guidance on handling of cryptocurrency, which Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice is following.
If you have any queries relating to cryptocurrency or would like to donate in this way, please contact our Philanthropy Team at [email protected].
*Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice can accept all forms of cryptocurrency. As HMRC does not consider cryptoassets to be currency or money, any donations made in this way are not eligible for Gift Aid.