Investors in the Chinese cryptocurrency community are donating bitcoin and altcoins this week to help Sichuan landslide victims.

Bitcoin miners around the world might have heard a lot about Sichuan. With cheap electricity, remote mountainous villages in Sichuan province are home to an increasing number of bitcoin mining sites. For local residents, however, geological disasters like landslides have been a disturbing nightmare for them to live in such steep mountainous areas.

On June 24, a heavy rainfall led to a landslide in a village of Xinmo of Aba Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan. In less than 100 seconds, 62 homes were smashed and 120 people were buried. At the time of writing, 35 people have been rescued out of debris.

When the landslide occurred, Bitcoin mining firm Canaan (commonly known by its brand Avalon) donated 32 BTC to Chengdu Charity Federation.

Followed by Canaan’s charitable efforts, Jin Yangyang and Guo Hongcai who host a Bitcoin videocast launched an initiative on June 25 to donate cryptocurrencies to landslide victims. In the following days, bitcoin exchanges and simple holders are donating bitcoin and altcoins heavily to the donation addresses.

Actually, Bitcoin has long been used for charities engaged in relief work in China. As early as in 2013, the One Foundation received 230 BTC when an earthquake struck Ya’an, Sichuan, making it the first Chinese organization to start accepting Bitcoin donations in China.

At present, the Chinese government has yet to define the nature of Bitcoin. Media tend to show negative news about Bitcoin from the Silk Road to WannaCry ransomware attack. And people who believe in the media see Bitcoin as a source of threats, as it could be used to facilitate drug dealing, ML and terrorism. If anything, negative image built by the media is one of the major challenges blocking Bitcoin growth.

News about bitcoin donations could help raise awareness of the benefits of bitcoin. But there are complexity and uncertainties surrounding bitcoin donations.

• When should these cryptocurrencies be exchanged for fiat?

It’s a known fact that bitcoin price is highly volatile. Let’s say, Tina donates a bitcoin worth of 20,000 yuan today and the next thing she knows is that her donation becomes 16,000 yuan the next morning. I may suck at math, but 4,000 yuan can afford many tents.

I wonder if Jin and Guo have any plans as to how to deal with these assets. When will these assets be exchanged for fiat?  Especially in these days, price drop is pretty wild in the cryptocurrency market.

• Should these assets be given to local charity organization or they’d rather keep them themselves?

Like it or not, charitable organizations are more professional than we individuals. If Jin and Guo are going to do this by themselves, how can they make sure the money will be given to victims in time? After all, they have never done this before and they haven’t been to the village to learn the needs of victims.

• If money is given to a local charity organization, will they ask the agency to disclose every penny they spend?

Anyway, it’s very kind of them to use cryptocurrencies do good things.

PS: I read news this morning and it says that a 19-year-old girl died in the landslide. She has been dreaming of going to college and then becoming a police officer. Just days before her tragic death, she got accepted into a police academy. Her friends say she is like a superwoman who is always ready to help others.

RIP Brave Girl.