Every day, dozens, hundreds, even thousands of playful NFTs and memecoins appear: in Web3 our inner child wields grown-up finances yet spends with ease on true desires. And freely help those who need it.
Today we look at how the crypto industry provides platforms for philanthropy—whose beneficiaries often feature in the logos of top projects and in countless memecoins. At ForkLog’s request, Sergey Golubenko highlights the most interesting Web3 initiatives that help animals.
The idea of organised philanthropy dates back to ancient Greece, when the first philanthropists supported people in the arts and sciences. In the Middle Ages, aid to the needy came mainly from the church and a few wealthy patron families.
Today, public- and private-sector donations have reached a new order of magnitude. According to estimates by Giving USA, about ~$500bn is donated annually to charity in the United States alone, with ordinary citizens accounting for 64% of that sum.
One of the earliest crypto-philanthropy projects was the Pineapple Fund, founded in 2017. It was created by an anonymous bitcoin whale with a fondness for pineapples. The fund donated 5104 BTC (~$55m at the time) to 60 different charities.
These ranged from the Water Project, which provides clean water to communities in Africa, to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends civil liberties in the digital world. All transactions remain available via an archived version of the Pineapple Fund website.
Why it matters
Various organisations report that only 3%–5% of charitable funds go to animal welfare. Most support falls into two areas:
- Aid for wild animals, with a focus on Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that more than 28,000 biological species—animals, plants and fungi—are threatened with extinction. Earth is going through what many call a “sixth mass extinction”. Many scientists believe current extinction rates rival those of the dinosaurs’ demise. The uniqueness of today’s die-off lies in its human causes: deforestation, pollution and poaching.
- Support for companion animals in distress. New research highlights the scale of the stray-cat-and-dog problem, putting the total at nearly 362m across just 20 countries studied. The data paint a bleak picture:
- 143m dogs live on the streets, with another 12m in shelters;
- 203m cats live on the streets and 4m are in shelters.
All told, almost 35% of cats and dogs lack a permanent home. Although each country faces distinct challenges, some issues recur:
- relinquishment due to life changes. One in five owners considering giving up a cat or dog in the near future cites moving home and being unable to take the pet. Almost half of those who have already relinquished a pet did so for the same reason;
- irresponsible pet ownership. Around 15% of owners are prepared to give up their pet within the next 12 months;
- other factors include undesirable behaviour, neighbour complaints, lack of time, owners’ old age, family allergies and the cost of care.
The advantages of Web3 initiatives
Crypto donations offer a fresh approach to philanthropy. Some industry leaders say NPOs will not need to work hard to persuade investors to donate in crypto.
“Donations in crypto are a win for everyone. People who have accumulated cryptocurrency want to support their favourite organisations. They don’t have cash for donations, but they do have crypto,” — says Givepact co-founder and CEO Alisha Moul.
And the Web3-charity leader The Giving Block expects crypto-philanthropy to exceed $10bn over the next decade.
Web3 technologies also offer clear advantages over traditional charitable channels by making processes highly transparent—something established institutions cannot always claim. A few reasons for their growing appeal:
- efficiency. Blockchain transactions can settle within minutes—far faster than many traditional transfers, especially cross-border. ReFi tools, DAOs, quadratic funding and RetroPGF can help deploy funds more effectively;
- accountability. Once recorded on-chain, transactions are extremely hard to alter. By using immutable donation rails, NPOs can show that funds are protected from misappropriation;
- accessibility. Cryptocurrencies can be sent and received anywhere, making them genuinely convenient for good causes;
- tax benefits. For example, the IRS classifies cryptocurrencies as property, and donations made with them may be exempt from tax;
- upside potential. Given crypto’s volatility, a donation made today could be worth much more in future.
Aggregating platforms
Several platforms offer services that let charities and individuals accept crypto donations. A few of them:
Crypto Altruism. A hub for philanthropy and education in crypto altruism. It publishes topical infographics and a blog covering supported initiatives, the latest news and primers on Web3 mechanics.
The Giving Block. One of the best-known crypto-donation solutions, it works with funds in more than 60 countries and supports 100+ tokens. The platform lets NPOs receive donor payments with automatic conversion from crypto to dollars. Anyone can also run a fundraising campaign—albeit in favour of existing funds.
Endaoment. The organisation supports direct crypto donations to approved charities, but does not allow individuals to open fundraising campaigns. It uses a donor-advised fund mechanism (Donor-Advised Funds). Like DAOs, DAFs help manage grantmaking and fund allocations under donor oversight, and allow moving them between platforms. Endaoment’s database offers more than 1.5m causes to choose from, including animal welfare.
Givepact. Similar in model to the above, it supports direct donations in 50+ cryptoassets. The organisation is structured as a DAO with DAF support. Features include automatically redirecting staking income from ETH, AVAX and DOT to charities, and using NFT trading to raise funds and attention for one’s DAF.
Also worth noting is the Crypto for Charity fund, which redirects crypto donations to The Animal Pad, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), SPCA International and VETPAW.
NFTs, memecoins, games
Vitalik Buterin recently underlined the importance of NFTs and memecoins, arguing for their use across a broader set of fields—especially philanthropy—by integrating these tools into Web3 games. A few such projects:
clr.fund. The platform raised funds for the Bolivian sanctuary La Senda Verde via the game Wild Friends, in which players care for a chosen avatar of a real-world animal by investing in it. A similar project is the Celo-based simulator Wildchain. This strand of Web3 gaming fits under Play-to-Earn—only here a player can improve not just personal wealth but a ward’s quality of life.
Loot a Dog. A smartphone app that pays users to walk their dogs—akin to STEPN. Owners who walk regularly are rewarded, with 10% of each reward automatically directed to charities. The game lets users create an SBT avatar with many attributes.
Paw Pular. Another walk-to-earn app that also mints unique NFTs for pets. Two collections already exist; they multiply rewards and unlock extra perks.
Chimpzee. A heavily promoted Web3 game with its CHMPZ token and a focus on helping animals and the environment. The team has reported tens of thousands of trees planted and funds sent to support black jaguars and elephants. CHMPZ can be staked, and 10% of tokens are allocated to charity—in addition to ongoing support for Wild and Forgotten Animals.
Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home. Turning to Web3, this Edinburgh shelter set a strong example. Its founders raised 26 ETH for food for their wards, a record for crypto donations in Scotland. They were helped by a partnership with Pawthereum, a decentralised application on Base with its PAWTH token. The shelter now works with numerous crypto initiatives, including the memecoin Pug and K9 Collective.
Also worth watching: the NFT project Kormi Kota, Mia The Spitz, Cogecoin, and animal-aid initiatives from the better-known Baby DogeCoin. In addition, the charitable arms of leading crypto exchanges are active—for example, Binance Charity.
Conclusions
Web3 philanthropy is still early, but its direction is clear—and as crypto adoption grows, so does users’ positive impact. For a living creature, any help matters; small steps have already been taken thanks to blockchains that can make giving more transparent.
A compelling reason to get involved is the chance to explore the world of Web3, where every voice can be heard—and where money you spend may find its way back if you make a meaningful contribution to the ecosystem.