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Wednesday

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April

Some of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges and Web3 companies have pledged millions of dollars to support victims of the deadly fire at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po District, highlighting the sector’s growing role in real-world relief efforts.
Three <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/centralized-cryptocurrency-exchanges-explained" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">centralized crypto exchanges</a> (CEXs) have publicly pledged to donate $24.78 million Hong Kong dollars ($3.19 million) to aid the victims of the devastating fire, which claimed the lives of at least 128 residents.
The donations included $1.5 million from Bitget exchange, $1.28 million from Binance, and about $256,000 from KuCoin exchange.
Bitget contributed the largest share, aiming to support reconstruction and recovery in the affected community, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen <a href="https://x.com/GracyBitget/status/1994282868852576637" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">said</a> Friday on X, adding that the exchange “stands with Hong Kong, wishing affected residents a swift recovery and rebuilding of their homes.”
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-11/019aca0d-4ced-74d7-8b65-1869d063f6e6" title="" alt="Crypto industry pledges over $3M to victims of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades">
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 Source: Gracy <a href="https://x.com/GracyBitget/status/1994282868852576637" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="https://x.com/GracyBitget/status/1994282868852576637">Chen</a>
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The two-day fire began on Wednesday at the Wang Fuk Court complex and spread to seven high-rise buildings before being extinguished on Friday, in what the media have <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c2emg1kj1klt" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">described</a> as Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in 80 years.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-etf-buyers-profit-price-90k" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BlackRock ETF investors bounce back to profit as price reclaims $90K</a>
Hong Kong-based Web3 intellectual property company Animoca Brands has also started a token-based fundraiser, aiming to collect funds from the crypto community via an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and a Solana (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">SOL</a>) wallet address.
The fundraiser is collecting donations until Dec. 2. The company pledged to convert 100% of the proceeds to Hong Kong dollars by Dec. 3, to support the relief efforts of the Hong Kong Red Cross. For transparency, Animoca will post a donation receipt showing the final amount collected and donated, the company said in a Thursday <a href="https://www.animocabrands.com/animoca-brands-invites-crypto-community-to-support-tai-po-fire-relief" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">announcement</a>.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-11/019aca0d-4f42-741b-8a9a-d393233fdec2" title="" alt="Crypto industry pledges over $3M to victims of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades">
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 Animoca Brands’ EVM-compatible donation wallet. Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="http://app.nansen.ai">app.Nansen.ai</a>
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Animoca’s EVM-compatible wallet had collected $171,000 while its Solana wallet collected $1,500 in cryptocurrency donations at the time of writing, <a href="https://app.nansen.ai/profiler?address=3hxNJNR3QacMzbW9gNG5kPhbFozXi4bkztDS2HE3XYef&amp;chain=solana&amp;name=3hxNJ...3XYef&amp;tab=overview" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">according</a> to cryptocurrency intelligence platform Nansen.
Tron Network founder Justin Sun also <a href="https://x.com/justinsuntron/status/1993923684764143692" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">pledged</a> an undisclosed amount to the fire victims.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-supply-migration-fed-rate-decision" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Over 8% of Bitcoin changed hands in week, markets on ‘knife’s edge,’ Analysts say</a>
<h2 id="crypto-donations-emerge-as-disaster-lifeline">Crypto donations emerge as disaster lifeline</h2>
Cryptocurrency-based donations have emerged as a significant lifeline for disaster-stricken regions and underdeveloped economies lacking banking infrastructure.&nbsp;
In 2024, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cz-donates-1000-bnb-thailand-myanmar-earthquake-relief" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">crypto donations surpassed</a> $1 billion, driven by large-scale transfers to the victims of the earthquake in Thailand and Myanmar.
Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao alone donated nearly $600,000 to the disaster relief fund in April 2024, following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Thailand and Myanmar on March 28.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also been known for his crypto donations. In October 2024, Buterin <a href="https://etherscan.io/tx/0x2f079584feaa3b30e876f732f5cd0650bbf683c2881f23520a4f5f2135f37810" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">donated</a> over $180,000 in Ether (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>) to the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-cofounder-vitalik-buterin-sends-usdc-to-gemini" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">biotech charity Kanro</a>.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/hong-kong-isnt-loophole-chinese-crypto-firms-think/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Hong Kong isn’t the loophole Chinese crypto firms think it is</a>

Crypto industry pledges over $3M to victims of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades

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