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The adoption and widespread use by the mainstream public are vital for crypto and Bitcoin to eventually reach its full potential. Acceptance from global government entities is nearly as important, as they wield the power to prevent the asset class from developing further.
However, a recent nod of support has arrived from the United Nations, with one agency under the multinational body launching its very own cryptocurrency fund.
UNICEF Becomes First UN Organization To Launch Crypto Fund
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that is has become the first United Nations organization to both hold crypto and conduct transactions in the digital asset class.
Their mission is to provide emergency food, medical supplies, and even education to children who are unable to fend for themselves due to economic conditions, war, and other atrocities.
Related Reading | UNICEF Adds Six Blockchain Startups From Developing Nations to its Innovation Fund
Appropriately dubbed the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund, it allows the UN agency to “receive, hold, and disburse donations” of Ethereum and Bitcoin. The firm says that they will use crypto to fund a variety of open source technologies that will benefit kids in need across the globe.
Any cryptocurrencies donated to the fund will be held in the same crypto that was contributed and will be granted out in that same cryptocurrency. The first contribution was made by The Ethereum Foundation, and the grant will benefit three grantees from the UNICEF Innovation Fund – Prescrypto, Atix Labs, and Utopixar – as well as a “project coordinated by the GIGA initiative to connect schools across the world to the internet.”
UNICEF says that the launch is part of “ongoing work with blockchain technology,” and that the agency is part of the UN Innovation Network – responsible for “researching the potential and pitfalls of blockchain and other emerging technologies.”
Aya Miyaguchi, Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation said that the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund would “improve access to basic needs, rights, and resources” and that crypto as a technology would “better countless lives and industries in the years to come.”
Related Reading | Unicef Australia Creates In-Browser Crypto Mining Website
This isn’t the first time UNICEF has shown interest in cryptocurrencies and how they may help children in need. Last year, UNICEF launched The Hope Page – a website interested philanthropic individuals can go to, and allow browser-based cryptocurrency mining software to utilize computer resources to mine for crypto that is then donated to UNICEF Australia.
The agency says that it “works in some of the world’s toughest places,” and crypto makes it easier and faster to send funds to regions without technological infrastructure. UNICEF’s stamp of approval and support of cryptocurrencies is great for the general acceptance of the emerging asset class, and even better, it demonstrates how the technology can benefit third-world countries that lack infrastructure or a thriving economy.
