Circle Launches USDC-Based Tornado Relief Fund

The internet finance platform Circle and Endaoment have joined forces to create a USDC-based disaster relief fund to help victims of last week’s deadly tornadoes in the midwest.

The fund will be launched to Circle’s workers and the larger Web3 community in hopes of raising $1 million in grants for the Red Cross and local nonprofits, the company said in a news release. Circle says it will match employee donations.

Endaoment, a community foundation for the decentralized finance sector, will provide the platform to facilitate donations.

The weekend’s tornadoes touched down in six states, killing dozens of people, including at least 73 in Kentucky, as the state experienced its worst-ever tornado. Earlier this week, AccuWeather projected that the storms would cause $18 billion in damage and economic loss, making them the most costly tornadoes in American history.

“Our employees asked how Circle could help the communities devastated by this weekend’s storms,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, in a press release. “We knew Endaoment could help us create a funding mechanism that would put aid in the hands of communities faster and provide the platform to extend donation opportunities across the Web3 community. They have been a tremendous and fast collaborator in this initiative.”

Circle says Endaoment will distribute money in intervals of $20,000 to a rotating list of organizations, who will get the option to receive a grant in U.S. dollars via a bank wire or in USDC through the organization’s cryptocurrency wallet.

“When Circle’s team approached us about helping with disaster relief efforts, it was an easy and obvious ‘Yes!'” said Robert Heeger, founder and CEO of Endaoment. “It is through incredible partners like Circle that we have been able to grant more than $11 million worth of donations to nearly 300 nonprofits this year.”

Read more: Circle Debuts USDC on Avalanche to Push DeFi

Earlier this week, Circle announced native support for USDC on the Avalanche public blockchain, providing the digital currency with a place on the eco-friendly, decentralized smart contracts platform.

The company said the integration “will create more seamless transaction and payment options for developers and participants in Avalanche’s exponentially growing, interconnected ecosystem of DeFi protocols, enterprise applications, NFT marketplaces and more.”