cryptocurrency
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Nikki Buxton
I know this was discussed a couple of years ago but the implications just got very serious indeed.
We have had several recent enquiries and have noted that the demographic of donor are newly-super-rich, philanthropically-minded folks who invested way back in attempt to 'stick it to the man'. They are cashing in through 2021 and need their tax-offset.
I think GG is missing a fabulous opportunity here - the boat is loaded and setting sail - please, let's not miss out!
Sylvester Renner
Nikki Buxton - the boat is indeed sailing - a simple google search will confirm this - https://www.google.com/search?q=cryptocurrency+donations
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Philip Wilson
Using a service such as BitPay would relieve GlobalGiving of having to interface directly to crypto at all; BitPay would do the conversion for I think 1%? and GG could just receive USD. Our charity can handle crypto donations directly but many small charities can't. Having said that, how is crypto treated for tax purposes in the US? Here in the UK, for many taxpayers it's more tax efficient to sell the crypto for fiat and then donate the equivalent in fiat, because a donation in crypto is treated as a donation in kind, so there's no capital gains tax to pay on the asset donated, which is fine, but no opportunity to offset against income or other tax, which can be bad depending on the donor's circumstances. I suppose if somebody really has a lot of crypto, they may have no other tax they want to offset and maybe they don't want their bank giving them funny looks when huge amounts of money pass through their account, so it's easier for them to give crypto directly.
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Nikki Buxton
Philip Wilson: we are based on Belize and have no North American nor European charity status. GG is our fundraising lifeline so having them accept crypto for us would be amazing
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Philip Wilson
I notice that BitPay doesn't get good reviews; quite a few reviews are complaining about the KYC rules, which are not BitPay's fault, and most financial institutions do poorly on review sites, but even so, careful due diligence is needed.
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David Zarembka
I doubt I have any donors who are invested in any of these cryptocurrencies. I also do not understand enough about them to have an informed opinion on this.
Sylvester Renner
100% agreed. This is worth looking into.