Optimism sets up donation address for earthquake victims in Turkey as support continues to pour
As Turkey recovers from the earthquake that took thousands of lives, several blockchain projects have launched donation campaigns to assist the affected regions. This time Optimism Protocol took the lead.
Crypto protocols set an example
On Feb. 11, Connext, a decentralized exchange and payment network, announced on Twitter that they had created a new system to allow TurkeyReliefDAO to accept donations across multiple chains. This development came in response to the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. In their statement, the Connext team expressed their condolences for those affected by the disaster.
Shortly after, the Optimism Protocol, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, tweeted that they had set up a donation address through which people could send support directly to the affected areas. They also expressed gratitude to Connext for publishing the contract that enabled donations.
This coordinated effort by Connext and Optimism Protocol is an example of how blockchain can be leveraged for social good.
By creating a system for noncustodial donations, the organizations are allowing people to contribute to relief efforts without relying on centralized intermediaries. This helps ensure transparency and accountability and enables funds to reach those in need more quickly.
Optimism launches Optimism Agora as on-chain activity continues to rise
On Feb. 11, Optimism Protocol announced the launch of Optimism Agora, a new on-chain governance portal. The portal was built by Agora and brings Token House votes to full on-chain, improving the governance process for DAOs and blockchains. The launch of Optimism Agora is the first step towards transitioning to fully on-chain voting.
Previously, Optimism had a governance portal from which they were migrating to a custom on-chain voting solution. All governance proposals are submitted for a vote. The Optimism Collective makes decisions via governance proposals that are either accepted or rejected by the voting process. The transition to fully on-chain voting as outlined in the Operating manual, which described the voting process and listed the correct proposal types.
Crypto stars come together to shed light on Turkish earthquake victims
Turkish rock star Haluk Levent turned to the cryptocurrency community for donations to support the victims. Levent and the charitable organization Ahbap established a multi-signature wallet that accepted contributions in BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Avalanche from the cryptocurrency community.
Huobi promised 2 million TRY, Bitfinex and Tether pledged 5 million TRY, and Bitget committed to donating 1 million TRY. Binance also pledged to airdrop $100 (1883 TRY) in BNB to users in the affected region.
Yesterday, Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, also contributed to the crypto-wide effort to aid the victims of the deadly earthquake. From EtherScan, Buterin donated 99 ETH, equivalent to $150,000, to the Ahbap Earthquake Support in Turkey and Syria.
The recipient wallet, which holds around 393 ETH, is valued at nearly $600,000 based on current market prices. The combined value of the wallet’s holdings is greater than $1.55m.
As the world faces natural disasters and humanitarian crises, it is heartening to see the blockchain community coming together to support those affected. The actions of Connext and Optimism Protocol serve as a reminder that technology can be a powerful force for positive change.
