Compiled by: Felix, PANews
On January 8, local time, a severe wildfire broke out in the city of Los Angeles, California and the surrounding areas, burning down thousands of homes and covering an area of tens of thousands of hectares. So far, the fire has burned more than 15,000 acres of land, forcing nearly 180,000 residents to evacuate, and another 200,000 people have already received evacuation orders.
The rapidly spreading fire not only threatens millions of California residents, but also threatens several cryptocurrency companies and members of the crypto community. In fact, many have lost their homes and belongings, including hardware wallets.
Cryptocurrency companies and users in Southern California affected
The wildfire has burned more than 15,000 acres of land in Southern California, including major areas such as Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Pasadena. In addition to residences, several cryptocurrency companies have also been affected.
The staff of the Santa Monica Bitcoin office is located in the raging Palisades and just south of Sunset. Several Swan Bitcoin staff who were hosting the Pacific Bitcoin conference in Santa Monica are also located just south of the fire.
The headquarters of blockchain service provider BlockDaemon and the crypto game developer SuperVerse are both located in Los Angeles. Spring Labs, a blockchain-based ID and tokenization company, is headquartered nearby in Marina del Ray. These companies have reported significant losses, including the destruction of hardware wallets containing cryptocurrency assets.
Some companies were luckier. So far, the Crypto.com arena (a Los Angeles landmark) in downtown Los Angeles has not caught fire. The crypto entertainment venues DaBank (Hawthorne) and Jungla (North Hollywood) have also been spared from the wildfire.
However, the impact is not limited to crypto companies, as crypto users have also lost their crypto wallets in the fires. Crypto KOL Monty posted on the X platform that his 70-year-old aunt lost her apartment in the Los Angeles fire. Most of her savings were in cryptocurrencies, but she lost her wallet and seed phrase, and had no backups. According to the comments, her wallet mainly held Bitcoin.
Non-profit organizations accepting cryptocurrency donations
To provide assistance to the affected individuals, some local charities and non-profit organizations that are providing aid are accepting cryptocurrency and stock donations.
The cryptocurrency donation platform The Giving Block has launched an "Emergency Response Fundraising Campaign" to donate to non-profit organizations actively assisting with the Los Angeles wildfire rescue efforts. The fundraising campaign allows the public to choose from seven non-profit organizations to donate cryptocurrencies.
These include the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, the First Responders Children's Foundation, the Global Empowerment Mission, the San Diego Humane Society, All Hands and Hearts, and Direct Relief.
In the donation campaign, the platform encourages the public to provide as much help as possible by donating cryptocurrencies, stocks, DAFs (Donor-Advised Funds), or cards to organizations providing food, shelter, and medical services.
Another cryptocurrency-focused donation website, Givepact, has shared details of the foundations accepting cryptocurrency asset donations.
These include Baby2Baby, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, the California Fire Foundation, the Los Angeles County Animal Care Foundation, and the California Community Foundation.
The platform states that the public can donate more than 30 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Avax, Dogecoin, and others, to these charities and non-profit organizations.
Prediction platform bets deemed "morbid"
Notably, a prediction platform has been criticized for "morbid" predictions regarding the wildfire event, with multiple users on the platform creating various prediction markets to bet on the fire's spread, when it will be brought under control, and potential political figure resignations. One X user claimed that "betting on wildfires is morbid", while another user stated that betting on such a tragedy "is undoubtedly shameless". Some users even expressed concern that to ensure successful bets, gamblers may be incentivized to cause more fires.
In response, the platform issued a disclaimer stating that "the devastating Palisades fire is precisely the kind of event where the platform can provide valuable real-time answers that traditional media cannot."
