Binance Charity Foundation has launched an initiative that seeks to raise $5 million in crypto to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Dubbed “Crypto Against COVID”, the campaign seeks to raise the said amount to purchase medical supplies for the countries that have been heavily hit by the pandemic.

Binance Charity will lead the campaign and has allocated an initial donation of $1 million in BUSD tokens. It will also set up a wallet where public donations will be received to support the project. Binance exchange will then convert the donated BUSD to fiat, which will be used to purchase the supplies from vetted suppliers. Binance will go on with a second phase of donations, depending on how the situation progresses.

The funds will be used primarily to purchase medical supplies that will be distributed throughout high-risk countries like Italy, Spain, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Turkey and Iran. The foundation asserts that all transactions made with the donated funds will be published on the foundation’s portal to ensure full transparency.

According to Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, the crypto community is a growing force and has an opportunity to strengthen this through philanthropy. He therefore encouraged the community to participate in this initiative for them to fight against the COVID-19 together.

The Binance Charity Foundation had earlier in February launched the “Binance for Wuhan” project. It pledged to donate about $1.4 million to support the purchasing of medical supplies to battle against the pandemic in China.

According to the Head of Binance Charity, Helen Hai, the most important element of human life is to show compassion and help others without the restriction of borders. She said blockchain technology provides an enabling environment for that, and Binance Charity wishes to bring this to the masses.