Country national uses cryptocurrency donations to fight starvation amid Yemeni civil war
A Redditor from Yemen’s capital city Sana’a has claimed he uses cryptocurrency for buying food packages for starving families in the ongoing civil war.
The username yemenvoice, posted on Thursday on Reddit that the person has managed raising about $12,000 so far, through crypto donations which are being used in fighting starvation in the country.
The user has claimed to have assisted 15 families with essential food items like oil, flour, beans and rice, and is currently hoping to reach out to more than 30 families in the coming future.
The user said they have tried “very hard” to help the Yemeni people “by finding any possible way.” Further, through the Reddit account yemenivoice, they also shared that they tried setting up online donation camps, but all platforms do not support Yemen. This led the user to utilize cryptocurrencies as an alternative method, and they informed that indeed crypto funds turned out to be “much easier and more effective.”
The civil war in Yemen has been raging since 2014 when soon a Saudi Arabian-led coalition started responding with assistance calls initiated by the ousted President Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. The country now suffers a blockade by land, sea and air since March 2015, forcing millions of Yemenis into dire lack of even basic necessities.
United Nations World Food Programme’s Executive Director, David Beasley, has said that about 16 million people in Yemen “are marching towards starvation” — among whom are 400,000 children under the age of five. According to a separate report, the food supplies within the war-torn country are already at critical levels.
Redditor yemenvoice has claimed they have been able to “break the siege” and divert funds into the country for buying food using cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Nano (NANO).
Yemenvoice explained that they received donations and then transferred the funds to their wallet or wallets of the only exchange company that accepts just Bitcoins. After having transferred the funds into relevant wallets, the user bought basic food packages, and distributed them “to the elderly, single mothers and orphans.” However, they say there is absolutely is “no difference between young or old” as “everyone is starving” in Yemen.
As per blockchain records, yemenvoice’s addresses have received about $600 in BTC, $64 in NANO and $1 in BCH, but the Redditor has told Cointelegraph that they have received $12,000 in crypto from where $3,000 has already been used “to pay medical bills, buy medicines, pay rent and buy food.”
They informed that during an attempt to trade the other $9,000 on Binance, almost all of the funds got lost.
While the efforts of this Reddit user yemenvoice reflects the usage of cryptocurrencies for the good of people as intended to be, other authorities have bypassed sanctions to rely on crypto donations, the countries including the United States and United Nations.
