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Bitcoins better for donations?

Foundation raising awareness on issues like donation processing fees, domestic banking fees, costly overseas transfer of funds and dilution through currency trading arbitrage as well as trade commissions that existed with erstwhile systems

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Pratima Harigunani
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WASHINGTON, D.C. , USA: The Bitcoin Foundation, BitGive Foundation and Bitcoin Black Friday have teamed up to raise awareness and provide a way for people to give 100 per cent, no matter how small the amount, to the causes they care most about; as a press note says.

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One of the nonprofits is The Water Project, a 501(c)3 that has been providing sustainable water projects throughout sub-Saharan Africa for seven years.

“Today, as our supporter's donations make their way to our partners in Africa, these exchanges have become far more costly than the benefits organizations and individuals actually receive from these arbiters of trade, wrote Peter Chasse, President and Founder of The Water Project.

“From credit card donation processing fees, to domestic banking fees, to the costly overseas transfer of funds with its concomitant dilution through currency trading arbitrage and trade commissions, and finally to the local bank fees in Kenya or Rwanda, a lot of folks take significant "cuts" along the way. Most of these fees are obscured and non-negotiable. We're told the process is difficult, cumbersome and expensive, but since we can't see it we remain unconvinced.”

He adds about Bitcoin, “A system this open tends to be harder to manipulate and skew in favor of one population or another. When you look at the disadvantages the poor so often face in traditional banking, this one potential benefit becomes central to cryptocurrency's appeal for me, especially in emerging economies.”

As further claimed, with Bitcoin, on 'GivingTuesday', the global day of giving, people are now empowered to give as little as $0.01 and see 100 per cent go toward their cause. "Most people don’t know that many charities are charged a fixed transaction cost for each deposit into their bank account. If a fixed transaction fee is $0.25, then a $1 donation will equate to a 25 per cent loss. Such inefficiencies in banking systems - particularly when remitting funds internationally - could be overcome by giving in Bitcoin."

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