Alex noted that Bitcoin is meant to be a way of democratizing money. Anyone that has access to the internet can own and trade Bitcoin. One specific organization he works with works with women in Afghanistan. Crypto was one of the few ways they were able to bring aid into Afghanistan. In light of recent events, people have started accepting crypto donations to fund their relief efforts in Ukraine. It has been a great way to mobilize fundraising efforts around the world. 

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At its core, Bitcoin is a peer to peer transaction system. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins in the world so it is a somewhat stable market, and there are currently 18 million in circulation. The other coins released will be over the next hundred years. The price of crypto is driven by supply and demand and decided by buyers and sellers. It is not being backed by a single entity which adds value to some consumers. 

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Alex testified that cryptocurrency will just keep growing. The Giving Block is developing an environment that will make it easy for nonprofits to accept crypto donations for this growing market. It’s important to note that those who are donating cryptocurrency are an actual donor demographic. The Giving Block not only helps non-profits accept crypto donations but also trains them on the strategies of successful crypto fundraising.  

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Crypto fundraising is an entirely new world for nonprofits. The age demographic of typical crypto users is dramatically younger than the past traditional donors and many of them carry the majority of their wealth in crypto. This is many of their first times donating in a consistent and meaningful way and if a nonprofit organization is not set up to receive crypto, these young donors don’t even consider it as an option. When nonprofits announce that they accept crypto, they are pleasantly surprised by the amount of donations that come in. 

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Alex said that one of the biggest pitfalls of organizations that accept crypto is that they don’t advertise it. This ability needs to be on their website, included in their ads, and weaved into existing marketing plans. Alex also mentioned that Twitter is the main platform for many crypto users so it is a very effective tool with advertising for nonprofits. He has seen a dramatic difference between those organizations who talk about crypto on social media and go to events, versus those who sit back and wait for crypto to come to them. 

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One of the hardest obstacles with starting The Giving Block has been that people don’t understand the sheer size of the nonprofit market and how much money is donated each year. The size of the nonprofit market compared to the people that know about it is overwhelmingly different. Because the majority of people don’t know about the nonprofit market, nonprofits have been neglected in the technology space and Alex hopes that The Giving Block inspires more innovative companies to enter the nonprofit industry. 

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In the past three years, The Giving Block has gone from 30 customers to over 1000 and there is potential for so much growth in this market. The Giving Block was actually just acquired by Shift4, an eCommerce company. The Giving Block is going to integrate cryptocurrency into Shift4’s product while simultaneously going deeper into the nonprofit space. Shift4 is allowing The Giving Block to accomplish their goals of spreading cryptocurrency on a much larger scale. For the future, Alex sees crypto philanthropy taking off and The Giving Block doing the same at a significantly better and faster pace. 

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