Malta Charity Standoff Leaves $37M Binance Donation Stranded
A $200,000 crypto donation made by Binance and users to a Maltese charity for terminally ill cancer patients in 2018 is now worth about $37 million but remains untouched.
In a Monday X post, Conor Grogan — head of product business operations at crypto exchange Coinbase — highlighted the value of the unclaimed donation. The funds were donated as part of a 2018 Binance Charity campaign and have been lying dormant in the receiving wallet since then.
“Any Malta citizens, please let your government know that these funds are accessible,” Grogan wrote.
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From $200,000 to $37 million
The 30,644 BNB (BNB) was worth about $200,000 back in 2018. At current prices, the same amount is valued at nearly $37 million.
“Due to the price appreciation of these crypto assets, these funds are now able to help even more people in need,“ Binance said in a 2021 statement.
The two organizations are not on the best of terms. In 2021, the Malta Community Chest Fund threatened to sue Binance over the alleged failure to file accounts and the disregard of yearly reminders to file accounts for 2018, 2019 and 2020. Still, just days afterward, the accounts were “found” and the threat of legal action withdrawn.
“The documents were submitted in September 2020 and were found in an electronic folder. Any inconvenience is regretted,” a MCCF spokesperson told the Times of Malta.
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Binance donation remains unclaimed years later
Since 2021, Binance has reportedly been waiting for the Malta Community Chest Fund (MCCF) to verify patient information, including their medical bills and crypto wallet address. The MCCF, on the other hand, is refusing to share the patient information that the exchange requires to make the transfer, leading to a standstill, according to the Times of Malta.
Binance said in a 2021 announcement that it was discussing potential solutions with the MCCF. Binance said it views transferring donations directly to the end beneficiary as non-negotiable. This aims to “apply the highest levels of transparency and efficiency.”
“Regrettably, when donation plans were submitted to BCF on 24th November 2020, the plans did not include the end-beneficiaries’ crypto-wallet addresses that were necessary to enable BCF to transfer donations in accordance with the terms.”
Binance said at the time it “believed we were close to agreement and we await MCCF’s response to our proposal,” but no updates have been issued since.
Neither Binance nor the MCCF responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment by publication.