Last year in December, a Redditor decided to give majority of their bitcoins to various charities, calling it the Pineapple Fund.
The anonymous philanthropist created a website and began accepting applications from non-profit organizations. The goal was to donate 5057 BTC, worth almost $86 million back when one BTC was valued at $17,539. Today, the benefactor “Pine”, who never disclosed any personal information, announced that they were successful in donating a total of 5104 BTC ($55 million) to 60 different charities.
The anonymous founder thanked the crypto community and wrote that although the recent developments in bitcoin improved its application in financial systems, they still missed “the old times when bitcoin was a small community.” However, this may not be the end of the funding activities as Pine added that they may come back in the future.
The Pineapple Fund Supported 60 Charities
Over the course of five months and 10,000 applications, Pine focused on sensitive topics ranging from universal healthcare and water projects to spiritual practices and supporting women in technology. Pine told The Guardian that even though a few rules were set for choosing charities, most of the time they went with their gut.
Three charities received $5 million each including Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), an educational non-profit organization that focuses on the benefits of psychedelics and marijuana, GiveDirectly, an electronic money transfer technology that sends money to the people in need, and Open Medicine Foundation (OMF), an organization that targets chronic complex diseases.
Pine has also donated $50,000 to Snowlovers, an initiative that plans to educate people on the impact of climate change on snow and winter. Pencils of Promise received $1.25 million for developing educational institutions in Ghana, Guatemala and Laos, and New Story received $2 million for finding homeless families and building suitable houses for them.
According to Pine’s statement, the last contribution was made to the Internet Archives, an e-library that provides movies, books and softwares without any cost, on May 10. The BTC transactions show that a total of $2 million was donated gradually in Dec. 2017, and February, March and May of this year. Considering cryptocurrencies can appreciate in value, any individual holding such coins can become extremely wealthy overnight. Hence, Pine concluded the topic by reminding people that in such circumstances, it is important to support what one believes in.