On Monday, a group of Israeli crypto firms created Crypto Aid Israel, a humanitarian fund to help Israeli citizens affected by the war with Hamas. Fireblocks, 42Studio, MarketAcross, Collider Ventures, CryptoJungle, Nilos, BlockchainB7, Efficient Frontier, Ironblocks Israel Blockchain Association, and Bits Of Gold are the driving forces behind this emergency initiative.

The fund will offer the opportunity to donate Bitcoin, Ether, and dollar-backed stablecoins USDT and USDC. Fireblocks, a New York-based digital assets custody, will manage the cryptocurrency donations. A multi-signature wallet requires at least four out of seven signatories to approve transactions.

Ben Samocha, the Chief Executive Officer of CryptoJungle, an Israel-based crypto news platform, commented on the initiative: “We hope to raise the necessary funds to provide food and shelter for families who lost their homes. We are also hoping to provide hygiene and medical products for the bombarded Israeli civilian populace and to raise awareness for the horrors the Israeli people are facing right now.”

Israel’s declaration of war on Hamas came after the militant group carried out an attack causing at least 900 deaths in Israel, prompting a retaliatory airstrike that killed at least 687 people in Gaza.

Crypto fundraising for war victims has been gaining traction since the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. In its first six months, the Ukrainian government managed to spend US$54 million raised through crypto donations to supply defenders with military equipment, clothing, medicine and vehicles.