Completely independent organization Greenpeace announced today that it now accepts donations in bitcoin, becoming the latest charitable institution to adopt the digital currency into its operations.
Greenpeace devotes its efforts to ensuring a “healthy planet for current and future generations.”
The organization states that it does not take money from corporations or government, and hence relies on individual donations, a fact that will surely be warmly accepted by the bitcoin community, which has largely libertarian roots.
Their blog reads: “A majority of our support comes from individual donations made by thousands of people across the country…[m]eaning that we have to be constantly evolving to ensure that donors are able to support our important work in the way that’s most convenient for them.”
Naturally, bitcoin is a perfect fit for Greenpeace.
Greenpeace’s move into the digital currency is a positive move. Greenpeace will now receive charitable donations from anywhere in the world for a fraction of the cost compared to other traditional methods. Their blog continues to say that “decentralized digital currency basically means that transactions are processed without a bank or other financial institution taking a processing fee, typically 3 percent.” The organization is still accepting traditional forms of payment, like PayPal and credit cards.
The integration of bitcoin is made possible by BitPay’s merchant tools, and comes just a week after United Way announced its acceptance of bitcoin as donations.
BitPay recently made a significant change in its plans, allowing 0% processing fees forever, making it a perfect fit for organizations and companies who wish to accept money and avoid the costly transaction costs typically associated with doing so.
Furthermore, Bitcoin offers the possibility of small, casual transactions, making it now economically feasible to send micropayments to charities. Surely, BitPay and Greenpeace’s joint announcement will open the doors to a new way of charitable giving.
Charitable giving is already at the centre of the bitcoin community, with successful projects like Sean’s Outpost and Women’s Annex Foundation reporting success in accepting the digital currency.
Greenpeace joins the list of philanthropic organizations to move into the bitcoin space, alongside United Way, which announced last week that it is now accepting bitcoin donations, and Wikipedia, a large non-profit.
To make a donation to Greenpeace in bitcoin, please click here.
