Greenpeace, a non-governmental campaigning organisation focused on environmental issues, announced it would begin accepting bitcoin donations last month, becoming the latest not-for-profit group to embrace the digital currency.
The move, which followed a similar announcement by United Way, is especially notable because Greenpeace does not accept donations from governments or corporations – it relies largely on small donations from the public.
CoinDesk spoke with Greenpeace chief information officer Tom Camerlinck, who explained that there were many “practical things” that motivated the organisation to adopt bitcoin into its fundraising efforts – things like lower transaction fees, the privacy of its donors and having a payment channel that allows the fraud and security team to worry less.
Camerlinck explained to CoinDesk that due to the nature of its donor base, the organisation strives to diversify and add different communities into the mix of people that funds its work.
“We like to stay nimble and go after what we see is the next major thing that’s going to make the biggest difference,” he said.
In learning about bitcoin, though, it became evident that the community values seemed very much aligned with those of Greenpeace, he said, citing privacy as a frequent concern of its donors as well as independence, free speech, sustainability and “taking chances on innovation”.
Fighting corporations
When asked why Greenpeace chose BitPay as its payments processor, Camerlinck said: “We are Greenpeace and part of our independence is that we don’t tend to promote corporations because we spend a lot of time fighting corporations.”Read more:
http://www.coindesk.com/greenpeace-bitcoin-helps-us-promote-free-speech-independence/
