By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 23rd, 2024
The funds raised by the coronavirus relief fund will be used to get oxygen and food. In addition, this money may even cover the cost of coronavirus vaccines for those who can not afford them.
India is currently challenged by COVID-19 which is rapidly spreading in the country, with a devastating daily surge in coronavirus cases. To support India in this extremely hard time, tech companies, as well as some outstanding names, are donating money to the country. In particular, Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin, crypto legend and former CTO at Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) Balaji Srinivasa donated more than $600,000 and $50,000 in ETH accordingly to the coronavirus relief fund in India. Companies like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Zomato, Razorpay have not stood aside as well.
Buterin and Srinivasa contributed to the coronavirus relief fund in India in response to a tweet of Polygon founder Sandeep Naiwal who called for help and announced the relief campaign.
Can't take this sitting down anymore, I am going to run a Covid relief campaign in lieu of what’s going on in India.
Need help from the Global crypto community.
I will take full responsibility for transparency, funds usage and regulatory compliance
If you want to donate.. 1/n
— Sandeep | Polygon 💜 Build Together! (@sandeepnailwal) April 24, 2021
To demonstrate involvement, Vitalik Buterin posted a proof of transfer of 100 ETH as well as 100 MKR, together worth over $600,000. Besides, he thanked Naiwal for organizing the campaign.
Thanks for organizing this @sandeepnailwal and thanks a lot for pointing this out @balajis!https://t.co/2PBOQKYuZqhttps://t.co/uOzQ15sZnL
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) April 24, 2021
Balaji Srinivasan allocated about 21.74 ETH worth approximately $50,000 for the COVID-19 relief.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to do well this year, consider joining me and @VitalikButerin by donating at the addresses below.
But if all you have is Twitter, help spread the word. For every RT, I’ll donate another $50 to fight COVID in India, up to $100k. #cryptovscovid https://t.co/eKlOlccelv
— Balaji (@balajis) April 25, 2021
According to Nailwal, he will use the funds to get oxygen and food. In addition, this money may even cover the cost of coronavirus vaccines for those who can not afford them. He also pledged to publish all the spending to ensure complete transparency.
Notably, the crypto donations are coming while the authorities of India are preparing the legislation that will ban cryptocurrencies. According to the draft bill, the new regulation will prohibit mining, holding, selling, trade, issuance, disposal, or use of cryptocurrency in India. Above all, the bill describes penalties for disobedience.
The only use of processes or technology underlying any crypto is the one for the experiment, research or teaching.
Coronavirus Surge in India
Every day, India reports an increasing number of coronavirus cases. Yesterday, it recorded 3,49,691 new cases, which is the highest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic. The total infection count in the country has climbed to 1,69,60,172 cases, with 26,82,751 of them being active now.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now urging all citizens to get vaccinated. “We were confident, our spirits were up after successfully tackling the first wave, but this storm has shaken the nation,” said he.
To enhance protective measures, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has prolonged a lockdown in the capital till next week.
As for the prognosis, epidemiologists and virologists are expecting the surge in India to reach its peak in mid-May, with the daily count of infections reaching half a million. Then, the spread will slow down.