Ethereum Co-Founder Gives Rs. 4.5 Crores to India's COVID-19 Relief.

 Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ehtereum, posted a proof of transfer of 100 ETH and 100 MKR, worth approximately $606,110 (roughly Rs. 4.5 crores), for use in India's COVID-19 relief. Ethereum, an open-source blockchain platform that was created in 2014 and is used to create and transfer non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — digital collectibles that can be uniquely identified and owned by individuals — has recently been in the news a lot because of its use in the creation and transfer of NFTs. Ethereum has its own currency, Ether, which is the world's second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.

Given the magnitude and reach of the coronavirus disaster in India, a slew of relief efforts have sprung up, ranging from individuals volunteering their time to assist people in coordinating and locating resources to businesses contributing money for oxygen and other emergency supplies. People from all over the world are flocking to India to help, and Buterin's donation should inspire the global cryptocurrency community to get involved.

The technology founder shared a pair of links to EtherScan, an independent platform for sharing blockchain data built for Ethereum, showing a transaction of 100 MKR (Maker) and 100 ETH (Ether) with a combined market value of over $600,000, or over Rs. 4.5 crores, on his Twitter account.

Despite the fact that you can't use cryptocurrencies like this to directly finance relief efforts since they're not commonly recognised as money, these tokens have a strong market value; Bitcoin is the largest and most well-known, but several others, like Ether, Litecoin, and, more recently, Dogecoin, have become quite popular. Bitcoin is currently selling for Rs. 37,12,394, Ethereum is currently selling for Rs. 1,63,519, and Litecoin is currently selling for Rs. 16,829 per device. This means the fund can be used to raise a large sum of money, which can then be used to address the crisis.

While Buterin appears to have made this donation in his own name, the Ethereum Foundation has previously made substantial donations. Last year, the foundation officially gave UNICEF 1,125 ETH, which was worth $262,000 at the time (roughly Rs. 1.9 crores at the time). Prior to that, in 2019, the foundation donated $150,000 in Bitcoin and Ether to UNICEF's experimental crypto fund (roughly Rs. 1 crore at the time).

According to a UNICEF spokesperson, the fund has been used to make investments all over the world, and the 2020 donation will be used to make investments to offset the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

UNICEF is investing in startups in countries such as India, Argentina, China, and Turkey, according to the paper.

The Indian startup StaTwig is one of the recipients. It is currently working on a project called a Vaccine Ledger, which can be used for unit level vaccine traceability, identification of expired drugs, cold chain tracking, and more, according to its website.