Pineapple Will Match up to $4M in Bitcoin to Test Curing PTSD With Psychedelic Drug

The bitcoin charity Pineapple Fund has already donated $1 million to aid in the testing of MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. It is now challenging the cryptocurrency community to donate more, and pledged to match donations up to $4 million.

Also Read: Pineapple Fund Donates $5 Million in Bitcoin as Seed Capital for the Poor

Curing PTSD with MDMA

Pineapple Fund, the $86 million bitcoin charity, has announced it will double the value of every donation to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) until March 10th, up to $4 million. This is meant to help the non-profit research organization reach its funding goal needed to begin Phase 3 clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in patients with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The pledge comes after the fund has already donated $1 million to this endeavor.

Pine, the anonymous bitcoin whale behind the fund, commented: “I believe we, the cryptocurrency community, can fully fund Phase 3 trials. Prescription MDMA could be a gift to this world from the bitcoin community. Let’s make MDMA medicine a reality, and give the gift of an enjoyable life to those suffering from PTSD. If you believe that psychedelic drugs can have incredible therapeutic potential, then I believe this is one of the highest impact projects today.”

New Money, New Ideas

This donation shows another example of how, the redistribution of wealth from old money to early adopters of technology via the rise of bitcoin is creating a positive change in the world.

Mainly known as an illicit party drug under the names Ecstasy, Molly and others, MDMA still doesn’t have any accepted medical applications and is deemed illegal for personal use in most countries. While some established charities would have difficulties associating themselves or their donors with such an experiment, a fund created by an anonymous person will have no such qualms.

Other recent Pineapple Fund donation recipients include: Quill, which got $1 million to help them develop a new open source educational model that teaches kids critical thinking and science comprehension; Possible, an organization delivering integrated and scalable healthcare in Nepal which also got $1 million; Software Freedom Conservancy, home to projects like Git, Homebrew, QEMU, and Selenium; and Wings for Conservation, which is providing aerial support against elephant poachers in Chad. Last month the fund also donated $5 million to test universal basic income in Africa.

What other good causes should the bitcoin community should get behind? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.



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