Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High: Is It #GivingTuesday or #BitcoinTuesday?

On November 30, Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of nearly $20,000. This follows an exciting year for the cryptocurrency industry, as PayPal opened up cryptocurrency payments to more than 300 million users and Facebook announced it will launch it’s cryptocurrency (Libra) as early as January. Today, on #GivingTuesday, the amazing year that cryptocurrency has had could mean transformative donations for over 100 nonprofits who have come together to accept Bitcoin donations on the biggest day in fundraising.

1,000% Increase in Charities Accepting Cryptocurrency Donations

We launched the #BitcoinTuesday community campaign last year with 12 nonprofits coming together to fundraise Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This year, 120 nonprofits are participating in the campaign, backed by dozens of the biggest brands in the cryptocurrency industry that are helping them spread the word. The #BitcoinTuesday campaign kicks off #BagSeason, which stands for “Bitcoin Annual Giving”.

Bag Season and Why December Matters for Crypto Donors

Perhaps what makes cryptocurrency donations to nonprofits so interesting is that, let’s face it, no one wants to spend their crypto. So if people don’t want to spend their crypto, how are nonprofits so successful at getting them to give it away? The answer: tax incentives. Bag Season brings together the crypto users from tax software companies like CoinTracking, Taxbit and CoinTracker with accounting firms like Friedman. That’s because when you donate crypto to a nonprofit (including universities and faith-based nonprofits), you not only receive the tax deduction, you also avoid the capital gains tax you would have otherwise owed on the crypto. This incentive makes crypto a more tax-effective way to give for millions of donors each year.

New Nonprofits Are Drawing Crypto Donor Attention

The nonprofit industry’s growing acceptance of cryptocurrency payments appears to be driven in large part by the wave of household brands that began fundraising Bitcoin this year. Organizations like Save the Children, No Kid Hungry and Wake Forest University began the push, followed by Team Rubicon, International Medical Corps and Children International over the summer. Now, as we head into year-end, organizations like United Way Worldwide and the American Cancer Society are reigniting those conversations in the crypto industry around the power charities have to accelerate mainstream cryptocurrency adoption.

How the Crypto Community is Getting Involved

The narrative has quickly evolved for crypto users when it comes to supporting charities with crypto. What used to be seen as “giving away” their hard-earned crypto gains to nonprofits is now being viewed as “investing” in crypto adoption, creating a virtuous cycle for their industry and investments. Companies like Gemini and CoinTelegraph are putting their platforms to work for the campaign, while a number of other companies are providing match dollars, doing giveaways, notifying their newsletters and participating on social media.

Check out #BitcoinTuesday on Twitter, and have an awesome #GivingTuesday all around!