A massive earthquake struck southeastern Turkey along the Syrian border on February 6, killing more than 5,000 people. An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, which is classified as “major” worldwide, occurred 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the fault line.
The infrastructure in the area was severely damaged, resulting in a deadly cross-border humanitarian disaster.
However, the world was not slow to respond. On the Internet and on various social media platforms, people collect funds for local and international aid organizations to help those in the affected areas.
Two of the biggest relief efforts in Turkey, AFAD Turkeygovernment agency for such disasters and NGOs Buddyled by philanthropist Haluk Levent, led the organization of the influx of aid.
Levent announced that his organization has opened crypto addresses to accept aid in various forms of digital currencies.
Also other addresses
ERC20 Network Transfers:
0xe1935271D1993434A1a59fE08f24891Dc5F398CdBEP20 Network Transfers:
0xB67705398fEd380a1CE02e77095fed64f8aCe463Avalanche Network Transfers:
0x868D27c361682462536DfE361f2e20B3A6f4dDD8— Haluk Levent (@haluklevent) February 7, 2023
Refik Anadol, a Turkish artist and art director, has also launched crowdfunding through an Ether (ETH) address, to which he will transfer the funds raised by both AFAD and Ahbap.
Dear friends, ETH wallet to support people in the earthquake. These remedies will greatly help people who are experiencing serious difficulties on the coldest days. Hope we can gather strong support from the web3 community! Thank you! 0xEd67922e36eD2422d391306f6f6ECC19d58EAa4f
— Refik Anadol (@refikanadol) February 6, 2023
In the Web3 space, various companies in the industry have stepped up to provide assistance, whether it be in the form of donations in cryptocurrency or fiat, or even physical assistance.
Crypto derivatives trader Bitget has announced that it will lend 1 million TL (~$53,000) while Bitfinex, Keet, Synonym and Tether have pledged 5 million TL (~$265,500) and Gate.io has pledged 1 million Lira (~$53,000).
Local Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Bitci sent a truckload of humanitarian aid to the earthquake zone, announcing that all fee income for February will be donated to Ahbap on behalf of the Kahramanmaras earthquake. Icrypex has announced a coordination effort with AFAD and Ahbap.
BtcTurk told Cryptooshala that, in addition to donating 6 million lira ($318,000) to Ahbap and Akut, the Turkish cryptocurrency exchange sent 1.2 million lira ($62,000) worth of clothing aid to the zone in coordination with local authorities authorities.
ByBit Turkey and OKX have pledged $100,000 and 1 million Lira (~$53,000) in aid, respectively.
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Cryptooshala also spoke with Sebastian Borje, co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, about his efforts with The Sandbox Turkey to support local communities on the ground.
“Today our thoughts are with the Turkish people. Together with the creator community of The Sandbox in Turkey, we are in touch with relevant non-governmental organizations to create a relief fund and support earthquake-affected areas.”
He said that, along with The Sandbox Turkey, they have helped fill a truckload of emergency supplies for the injured and affected and are looking into options for longer-term support.
Irreplaceable tokens (NFTs) have also been cited as a possible way to raise funds in the event of a natural disaster.
Turkish NFT artist Pak tweeted about the ETH donation to Ahbap as well as plans for the NFT initiative for long-term support. Gate.io, in their proposal, also mentioned the development of an NFT assistance initiative for additional support in the near future.
This is an evolving situation that Cryptooshala is monitoring. This article will be updated with any relevant information.
Credit : cointelegraph.com
