BTC Donation

Cape Cod’s Largest Hospital Gets Bitcoin Donations Worth $800K

23/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

One of Cape Cod’s largest hospitals received two bitcoin donations this year totaling $800,000 in value. The Massachusetts-based not-for-profit medical centre (NPO), Cape Cod Healthcare, explained that an anonymous donor donated $400k last Friday and the NPO received a $400k bitcoin donation last month as well.

Cape Cod Healthcare Gets $800K in Bitcoin Donations

The hospital Cape Cod Healthcare (CCHC) is considered one of the leading providers of healthcare services in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This week, the NPO told the Boston Globe staff member Anissa Gardizy that it received two bitcoin (BTC) donations worth $800,000.

CCHC’s senior vice president and chief development officer, Christopher Lawson, said the donor wished to remain anonymous and sent an email last month asking the hospital to accept BTC donations. Lawson said the donor had helped CCHC before the two crypto donations, and had just recently asked if the hospital would accept his BTC gift.

Lawson told Gardizy that before accepting the donation, the administration had to see if the hospital could deal with transactions sent in cryptocurrency.

“Before we responded, Lawson said. “We had to make sure there were not any issues. It required a good amount of research,” he added. “My office probably spent a week or two doing our best to learn who else was doing this.”

After getting approval from CCHC’s finance department and the hospital’s CEO Mike Lauf, the firm launched a donation address. Lawson said that because the donor gave the $800k worth of bitcoins to the hospital, he will be free from paying taxes on the funds.

“It makes it an asset that is attractive to donate,” Lawson stressed. “You get maximum impact on the value, and any gains you get, much like stock, you don’t pay the tax,” the hospital administrator added. Lawson did detail, however, that the CCHC finance team immediately converts the donations to dollars.

Mainstream Acceptance

The first $400k donation was sent on January 28, 2021, and the following month on February 19, the donor sent another $400k worth of bitcoins. CCHC’s senior vice president said that other NPOs could also set up bitcoin donation support in order to accept the crypto asset.

“I’m really excited. We are coming out of a period during COVID when donations were hard to come by for a lot of folks,” Lawson emphasized. “This lets people know that we have the capability of accepting these cryptocurrencies in donation, and we have the infrastructure in place.” Back in May, Cape Cod Healthcare furloughed more than 600 employees.

“It is not widespread but it is becoming more mainstream,” Lawson concluded. “People are accumulating these assets, and they are looking at opportunities to donate them,” he added.

What do you think about the two bitcoin donations totaling $800k sent to Cape Cod Healthcare? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Hackers Donate Bitcoin From Ransomware Attacks to Charities

21/10/2020 by Idelto Editor

A group of hackers has donated some of the bitcoin it extorted via ransomware attacks to charities, claiming that it wants to “make the world a better place.” However, the law says donations from ill-gotten gains must be rejected but charities have no way of returning donated bitcoin to the hackers.

Hackers Donate Bitcoin to Charities

A group of hackers known as “Darkside” has surprised the world by donating a portion of the proceeds from ransomware attacks to two charities, the BBC reported Monday, adding that the group is relatively new on the scene. Darkside hackers claim to have extorted cryptocurrencies worth millions of dollars from companies.

Claiming that they now want to “make the world a better place,” the group donated 0.88 BTC, worth about $10,000, from their ransomware proceeds to two charities: The Water Project and Children International. The Water Project works to improve access to clean water in sub-Saharan Africa while Children International fights poverty and helps children in need.

The Darkside hacker gang posted the tax receipts for its 0.88 BTC donations in a blog post on the dark web on Oct. 13. The hackers claim that they only attack large, profitable companies with ransomware and would not attack hospitals, schools, governments, or charities.

Experts question the hackers’ motive. “What the criminals hope to achieve by making these donations is not at all clear,” said Brett Callow, a threat analyst at cyber-security company Emsisoft. “Perhaps it helps assuage their guilt? Or perhaps for egotistical reasons they want to be perceived as Robin Hood-like characters rather than conscienceless extortionists.” He elaborated:

Whatever their motivations, it’s certainly a very unusual step and is, as far as I know, the first time a ransomware group has donated a portion of their profits to charity.

However, when the donation comes from crime proceeds, the law says it must be rejected. Both charities have said that they will not accept the BTC donations, but the problem is that they have no way of returning them. The hackers used a U.S.-based service called The Giving Block, which is used by 67 different non-profits worldwide, to make the donations. The company says that the money was sent through a mixer.

Philip Gradwell, Chief Economist at blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis, commented: “If you walked into a charity shop with an anonymous mask on and donated £10,000 in cash, then asked for a taxable receipt, questions should probably be asked – and it’s no different.”

What do you think about hackers donating bitcoin to charities? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Hackers Donate Bitcoin From Ransomware Attacks to Charities appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Connecticut Software Engineering School Receives $10,000 BTC Donation

08/01/2019 by Idelto Editor

During the first week of 2019, Holberton School in New Haven, whose two-year higher education program aims to “drive the digital transformation revolution,” received a large cryptocurrency donation. On Monday it was announced that the cofounder of software suite the Scroll Network, Nathan Pitruzzello, donated $10,000 worth of digital currency to the Connecticut school that’s known for recording academic certificates on the BTC chain.

Also read: Thousands of Banned Binance Customers Remain Cut off by the Exchange

Connecticut Software Engineering School Receives a $10,000 BTC Donation

Holberton School New Haven, a two-year program training software engineers, revealed on Jan. 7 that the school had received a kind donation in cryptocurrency. The $10,000 BTC donation from Scroll Network’s cofounder Nathan Pitruzzello will be used to help qualifying students offset living expenses, the school detailed. Holberton helps students become full-stack software engineers by utilizing a collaborative project-based learning approach. According to Holberton, graduates from the school now work with blockchain startups and big name tech giants like Tesla, NASA, and Apple. During the announcement, Pitruzzello explained that cryptocurrency solutions and blockchain technology innovation is “about philanthropy.”

“I am committed to helping students build their startups and careers as a way of giving back to those that helped me get started,” said Pitruzzello. “Holberton’s approach to providing cutting-edge software engineering training to people from different backgrounds, including entrepreneurs like myself, as well as those from disadvantaged backgrounds, has resonated with me from day one — I am very excited that this education model is launching next door to us right here in New Haven,” the Scroll Network founder added.

Connecticut Engineering School Receives $10,000 BTC Donation — **Both Holberton and MIT record academic certificates on the Bitcoin Core (BTC) network.**

Blockchain-Backed Academic Certificates

Another interesting fact about the Holberton school is it was one of the first schools to deliver academic certificates that are secured and accessible via the BTC blockchain. Around three years ago, on Oct. 21, 2015, the New Haven software engineer program announced it was recording the certificates in order to “tackle the threats of false resumes and fake certificates.” “By having students’ certificates available in a public blockchain, Holberton School makes it easier for employers to check if a candidate is truly a graduate from the school,” Holberton stated at the time.

The well-known Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston also uses the BTC chain to record academic certificates through a program called Blockcerts launched in 2016. The following year, the MIT Registrar’s Office issued diplomas to 111 graduates using the blockchain platform. Holberton is unique because students are able to attend with no upfront tuition, but are asked to contribute a portion of their salary from post-Holberton employment. However, Holberton director Nadine Krause emphasized that students still need help with living expenses and the digital currency donation was very helpful.

“We’re honored that [Nathan Pitruzzello] chose to support Holberton students in this way and to help further our mission of making our program accessible to more people, regardless of an individual’s experience level or financial means,” Krause concluded.

What do you think about the BTC donation to Holberton School New Haven? What do you think about schools that record academic certificates by using blockchain technology? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Images via Shutterstock, Holberton School New Haven, and Pixabay.

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