Israel’s Crypto Community Raises $100k in 48 Hrs for Aid in War Against Hamas

Israel’s crypto community has joined hands to launch “Crypto Aid Israel” to lend support to those affected in the war with Hamas.

In the first 48 hours of the initiative, the organization successfully raised $105,000 (415,000 shekels) that went into a Fireblocks-managed multi-signature wallet. ETH represented 35% of donations, followed by USDT (29%) and DAI (18%). The remainder of the donations were made in BTC and USDC.

The team said funds collected will be geared towards essential humanitarian aid for victims of the recent attacks by Hamas.

“On Sunday morning, the Web3 community in Israel woke up shell-shocked at the dreadful catastrophe that befell us,” said Tim Freed, who is helping lead the project. “Very soon, the local groups were buzzing with the idea of rallying public support in the crypto industry to raise funds for the victims of Hamas terror.”

Funds Allocation

60,000 ILS is being directed towards the Foundation of Eshkol to aid in the relocation and shelter of citizens in close proximity to Gaza. 25,000 ILS is being dedicated to Zaka, a search and rescue NGO. 15,000 ILS is being allocated to provide essential for those who have stayed behind in settlements and cities neighboring Gaza.

The distribution of funds will be audited by KPMG, Freed said. The proponents of the initiative have also begun developing a Dune dashboard to allow global tracking of the initiative’s progress.

Crypto for Good

The group emphasized the significant role of cryptocurrency in these times of turmoil.

“Crypto has often been viewed negatively over the last few years. But we have a window to show the world that crypto can be deployed as a force for good,” Freed said.

The crypto ecosystem has previously shown it can come together in times of need, as witnessed in the Ukraine Crypto Drive.

More than 400 volunteers and all leading Israeli Crypto Companies have offered their services pro bono to the project, showing the world the generous, caring side of the crypto community.

Blockchain projects, including BlockchainB7, Market Across, Nilos, Iron Blocks, Israeli Blockchain Association, Efficient Frontier, Collider Ventures, Wonderland, Node Capital, Bit of Gold, Poolz Finance, Zengo, Orbs, Lava, Redefine, Coti, and Cyverse, are driving the effort ahead.

Hamas Wallets

In the battle against terror funding, Israeli police, in collaboration with leading forensic companies, have been successful in freezing Hamas’s crypto wallets, as per a recent report by Reuters.

“Crypto is a battlefield as much as it is a technology,” Freed said. “We are ensuring Hamas doesn’t get access to any funds via crypto.”