The core developers of SushiSwap, an automated market-making decentralized cryptocurrency exchange on the Ethereum blockchain, donated 25 ETH (worth approximately $50,000 at the time) to No Kid Hungry, the charity announced on Wednesday.
The Giving Block, a platform that enables nonprofit organizations to accept cryptocurrency donations, handled the transfer. Donors have more than 200 recipient organizations to choose from through the platform, which also offers information and a guide on the tax benefits of crypto donations.
“SushiSwap’s donation was incredibly generous, and we’re excited to see teams building in crypto donate to awesome causes like No Kid Hungry,” Alex Wilson, co-founder of The Giving Block, told CoinDesk.
“Every major donation like this encourages more nonprofits to accept cryptocurrency donations, pushing adoption further in the nonprofit industry. No Kid Hungry was one of our earliest clients, and they’ve helped us grow from working with 10 nonprofits to now working with over 200,” Wilson added.
The SushiSwap exchange has proven one of the biggest success stories in the recent explosion of decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. The price of its governance token, SUSHI, skyrocketed to all-time highs above $20 in March, representing a 30-fold gain from its November 2020 low. (Its price was about $18 on Thursday.)
In December, No Kid Hungry was one of more than 120 organizations, including Save the Children and The Tor Project, that took part in #BitcoinTuesday, the crypto edition of the annual charity event #GivingTuesday, spearheaded by The Giving Block.
According to a March report on No Kid Hungry’s coronavirus response from executive chair Billy Shore and president and CEO Tom Nelson, since the beginning of the pandemic last year the organization has provided more than $66 million in grants to 1,800 schools, nonprofits and food banks in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam and has served nearly 1 billion meals nationwide.
“It’s been a year now since the pandemic began and the crypto community’s support of No Kid Hungry has helped millions of kids struggling to get the food they need to learn and thrive. It’s been so inspiring to see the truly heartfelt support from crypto donors, all of whom made their gifts to No Kid Hungry through The Giving Block,” said Diane Clifford, Managing Director, Constituent Development and Operations of No Kid Hungry.
She noted that the SushiSwap core developers’ donation “will provide up to 500,000 meals for kids across America.”
Tax deductions, bull runs and crypto donations
No Kid Hungry is among the growing number of nonprofits that have begun to accept crypto donations, including highlighting crypto’s favorable tax treatment under IRS regulations. The IRS treats cryptocurrency donations to 501(c)s or other tax-exempt nonprofits as tax deductible, like stocks and other property, and not subject to capital gains tax.
And with increased attention on the crypto space around Coinbase’s direct listing on Wednesday, Wilson sees continued growth in crypto donations to nonprofits.
“As the price of crypto continues to increase, so do the potential capital gains tax liabilities. We’re seeing donors use our platform and the causes we work with as a way to do good while also offsetting their capital gains taxes when they take profit on a position,” Wilson said. “Overall, we’re seeing millions of dollars being donated to the causes we work with and don’t expect it to slow down any time soon.”
No Kid Hungry currently accepts donations in bitcoin, ether, basic attention token, bitcoin cash, chainlink, dai, litecoin, zcash (ZEC) and others, according to The Giving Block.