Though much of the cryptocurrency community’s talk of “mooning” and “lambos” is tongue in cheek, many people would prefer a greater focus on the potentially transformative power of distributed ledger technology, particularly in the developing world. Perhaps surprisingly, one of the loudest voices in promoting the “crypto for good” idea comes from Binance, one of the world’s most dominant digital assets exchanges, and its CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao.

Yesterday Zhao pledged $1 million to help flood victims in Japan, and today Binance announced that Helen Hai has been appointed as the new head of the exchange’s charitable foundation.

Welcome UNIDO’s Goodwill Ambassador @Helenhaiyu to join as head of @BinanceBCF to use Blockchain for Social Good. Ambassador Hai is WEF’s Global Young Leader.#Binance #BinanceCharityFoundation pic.twitter.com/Mme0aR9Nf9 — Binance (@binance) 9 July 2018

Blockchain for social good

The Foundation’s central mandate is “Blockchain for social good” and Binance says that Hai is a “true believer” in this idea. The transparency of transactions makes charity and philanthropy two of the most exciting use cases for blockchain. It also makes the technology useful in supporting the United Nations’ goals for sustainable development.

Hai brings to Binance a wealth of experience in development economics, particularly as it relates to the African continent. Not only is she a UN goodwill ambassador for African industrialisation, she is also co-chair of the Global Future Council on the Future of Consumption. She was named a “Global Young Leader” by the World Economic Forum in 2015, the same year that she received the African Business Icon Award. In 2016 she was awarded the National Order of the Lion of Senegal.

Binance has been working with Hai since March. In April, Zhao announced that the exchange was partnering with Hai and African blockchain hub CryptoSavannah on a project to help economic development in Uganda, one of the world’s poorest countries. Zhao said that blockchain technology could power a “4th industrial revolution,” one which would result in the creation of “thousands of jobs and bringing investments to Uganda.”

@binance will partner with @cryptosavannah @AggieKonde @HelenHaiyu to support Uganda’s economic transformation and youth employment through blockchain, embracing the 4th industrial revolution. We will do this by creating thousands of jobs and bringing investments to Uganda. — CZ (not giving crypto away) (@cz_binance) 22 April 2018

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