Helen Hai, the head of Binance Charity, the philanthropic arm of crypto exchange Binance, recently said that the charity has partnered with international NGOs to launch a crypto-to-cash assistance program, enabling refugees that have been displaced because of the war in Ukraine to be able to spend money received through donations without having to pay bank transfer fees or navigate bank shutdowns. The program has enabled thousands of refugees to access emergency financial aid by using the first-of-its-kind Binance Refugee Card.
"Crypto-to-cash program is actually a very simple program. We were able to donate directly to refugees through crypto," Hai said.
Binance Charity launched the Binance Refugee Card in April 2022, at which time at least 12 million people had been displaced because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to a Binance blog post.
"When we talk about Ukraine, it's one of the biggest displacements of people that we have seen in recent years. We have, broadly, some 12 million people that have fled their houses. Some 7 million are still inside Ukraine, while the rest have fled the country and are currently in different countries in Europe," Tarik Argaz, a member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said in a video posted to YouTube by Binance. "Here in Poland, we are assisting refugees from Ukraine with cash assistance, which is the most efficient and effective way to support people forced to flee, because they are able to purchase goods that they need the most."
One volunteer said in the video that processing donations through traditional banks was a slow process that could take about a week. He said that although of course they were grateful for all donations in any form, "technical superiority" is a benefit that allows donations to be processed and distributed much faster. He also said that the transaction fees associated with crypto are significantly lower than those associated with traditional banks.
Alexander Bornyakov, Ukraine's deputy minister of digital transformation, said in the video that "literally in the first day of war, the banking system completely shut down. Of course, the first idea was to turn to crypto, because crypto is so available to transfer."
Elizabeth Li, deputy director of Binance Charity, said NGOs they partnered with helped to screen out parties that were not eligible for donations to ensure that all donations ended up in the hands of refugees who needed them. She noted that all transactions are transparently recorded on the blockchain, "so we ensure in this process 100% transparency and very minimal transaction fees. Currently, we're using the BNB chain for every transaction ... and we publish all of these records ... It's on the public ledger. Everyone can review them."
Financial assistance makes refugees and displaced people less likely to turn to dangerous measures to obtain cash, such as sex work, child labor, or forced marriage, according to the Binance blog post. It also enables refugees to participate in the local economies of their host communities.
A major Ukrainian pharmacy chain announced earlier this month that it had partnered with Binance to enable crypto payments through contactless Binance Pay at its more than 1,000 locations across the country, Coin Telegraph reported. In September, Binance launched a similar initiative with a Ukrainian supermarket chain that enabled customers to make purchases groceries through Binance Pay Wallet.
