It’s the season of giving, and Make-A-Wish International has called on crypto holders to empty their pockets for a good cause.

The children’s charity has put out an appeal for crypto holders to donate, after Bitcoin surged to new all-time highs over the past month.

"Supporting charitable initiatives with cryptocurrency sends the message that crypto has a purpose beyond financial gains—it can change lives and create meaningful social impact,” Luciano Manzo, President and CEO at Make-A-Wish International, said in a release.

The charity helps grant the wishes of children diagnosed with critical illnesses across 50 countries worldwide—from meeting a famous person to going to Disneyland. It claims to have fulfilled 585,000 wishes since its creation in 1980.

Make-A-Wish International opened its doors to cryptocurrency donations three years ago with the help of The Giving Block, an organization that enables non-profit organizations to receive crypto donations.

The charity accepts donations in Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDC through its website, and claims that the three years of crypto donations have helped bring Make-A-Wish to three unnamed new countries.

Crypto and charity

Charities have taken some time to come around to the idea of accepting cryptocurrency donations. Last year, the UK Charity Commission published guidance warning organizations against the risks of taking crypto donations, citing token volatility, potential fraud, legal ambiguity, and more.

It appears though that more charities are coming around to the idea, with Make-a-Wish International one of a number of charitable organizations and nonprofits now accepting cryptocurrency.

“Cryptocurrency presents the greatest intersection of wealth, youth, and motivation to give,” The Giving Block Co-Founder Pat Duffy said in a release. “With 600 million users globally and trillions of dollars invested, nonprofits that do not tap into this movement risk being left in its wake.”

Last month, charity platform JustGiving added support for donations in Bitcoin and Dogecoin, while Médecins Sans Frontières (also known as Doctors Without Borders) launched a new initiative that enables users to share part of their staking rewards with the charity, using Ethereum staking protocol Lido. Stake2Care launched in October and has since received an advertising grant from the Lido Ecosystem Grants Organization.

Other causes have benefited from the generosity of crypto holders; following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the country was able to raise $50 million through 90,000 separate donations in less than a week, leading to Ukrainian media pushing for NFTs to be released.