In October 2019, the central government proposed “to take blockchain as an important breakthrough in independent innovations of core technology”. In the past few years, many products and projects involving both blockchain and charity have emerged.
Some people are asking what role blockchain can play in the charity sector? Can blockchain really solve specific problems? Must blockchain be used to ensure transparency? What is the first public blockchain in China? In response to these questions, NGO 2.0 (an education-focused nonprofit with the aim to empower grassroots NGOs in Central and Western China by providing technological training and support, jointly sponsored by MIT and University of Science and Technology of China) has published an article listing some of the best examples of blockchain-based charity in China. We have summarised a few of their most interesting choices below.
1. First blockchain-based charity project by the One Foundation
In December 26, 2016, the One Foundation’s first blockchain charity project, “illuminating the stars”, which aims to help children suffering from autism, was launched on Alipay.
2. Alashan SEE’s Noah’s Ark Himalayan bee-breeding project
Started in June 2017, the Noah Ark Himalayan bee-breeding project is not only a poverty alleviation project, but also a project to improve the local environment and ecology. It has created a recyclable and autonomous ecological chain.
3. Jingdong material charity
In September 2017, Jingdong charity (the charitable foundation owned by the Chinese e-commerce giant), Jingdong Y business department (established in November 2016, committed to building a smart supply chain with big data and artificial intelligence technology) and Meili China jointly carried out the first attempt in China to apply blockchain technology to the tracking of material donations. Innovatively using blockchain technology, it allowed people to track the destination of every gift they donate to children.
4. Tencent’s “charity search chain”
In October 2017, the Tencent Trust blockchain Research Institute (Tencent TrustSQL) officially launched the “public interest search chain” platform. The platform aims to resolve the phenomenon of “isolated data islands”, allowing parents of missing children to find them within the “golden 72 hours”. The parents can use blockchain technology to synchronize the search information on major platforms for the first time.
5. Charities on the Chain
On September 5, 2019, the third Alibaba 95 charity weekly offline forum was held in Hangzhou. Alibaba, together with a number of Internet companies, launched a public welfare initiative, and officially released the “Charities on the Chain”. It uses blockchain technology to create a transparent charitable infrastructure of the future, free for charitable institutions on the platform. It is expected that by the end of 2019, there will be more than 200 million fundraising projects on Alibaba’s charity platform.
