November Edition of the Crypto Altruists Newsletter

👋 Hello, Crypto Altruists!

We're seeing a promising momentum in crypto. 👀

It's starting to behave less like a market and more like an economy. Stablecoins moved over $5 trillion on Ethereum last quarter, more than Visa and Mastercard combined, while new blockchain-based aid pilots, from Syria to Kenya, continue to expand across humanitarian networks. Quietly, crypto is becoming the financial plumbing for impact.

And that reality will further come into focus at Devconnect Buenos Aires this month. Argentina is a country where web3 isn’t a hobby but a tool for survival; where inflation and currency controls have made digital assets part of everyday life. It’s a place that shows what happens when decentralized infrastructure meets real need.

For us at Crypto Altruists, we're excited to witness a moment where crypto’s role is becoming more visible, practical, and rooted in everyday life. The experiments are turning into infrastructure, the ideals into working systems, and we can’t wait to see what comes out of it.

Let's dive into what’s been on our mind these past few weeks. 👇

🌱 Featured: Successful Epoch 9!

Octant’s Epoch 9 has wrapped, and we’re incredibly excited and deeply grateful. Thanks to your amazing support, Crypto Altruists had a fantastic round, receiving nearly 30 ETH in matching funds to advance our mission! So many of you allocated your GLM staking rewards to us, and we truly appreciate every single one of you who took the time to back our work. 💚

With that support, we’ll be able to take the Ethereum for Good Hub to the next level. We’re ready to share more stories, expand our resources, and highlight even more builders and ideas working at the intersection of crypto and public good. It also gives us the momentum to keep exploring what’s possible and growing this work.

If there are stories you want to see, topics you care about, or projects you think deserve more attention, we’d love to hear from you. Thank you again for being part of this. 🙌

💡 November impact spotlight

Ecosystem developments 🚀

• Stablecoin aid pilot in Syria cut costs by 60% and delivery time by 96%: Mercy Corps Ventures’ pilot with HesabPay showed that stablecoin transfers reached Syrian farmers almost instantly, improving transparency, safety, and efficiency over traditional cash aid.
• Octant hosts DeFi Summit 2025 (recording available): A virtual gathering of leading DeFi thinkers exploring institutional trends, cross-chain liquidity, ecosystem funding, and the next frontier of decentralized finance.
• Bhutan to anchor national digital ID on Ethereum by early 2026: The Himalayan kingdom will move its national ID system from Cardano to Ethereum, issuing verifiable credentials on a public network and becoming the first country to run a population-scale ID on-chain.
• Ripple partners with global nonprofits for faster aid delivery: World Central Kitchen, Water.org, and Mercy Corps Ventures will use Ripple’s payment platform and RLUSD stablecoin to move humanitarian funds more quickly and transparently.
• Localism Fund launches with $155K to support place-based networks: The initiative empowers local communities to coordinate, govern, and fund regenerative projects using Ethereum—starting with its first Local Grant Programs round and a peer-to-peer Expert Network.
• Data-Pop Alliance wins Mercy Corps Ventures Anticipatory Action Accelerator: The $100K grant will support OPAL for Floods, an AI and blockchain-based system in Senegal that predicts floods and triggers automated local response funding.
• 37 teams join UNDP’s SDG Blockchain Accelerator Cohort 2: Selected from a global hackathon, the teams will pilot blockchain-based solutions for climate finance, digital identity, and humanitarian aid under UNDP’s AltFinLab and Blockchain for Good Alliance.
• Regen Hub is looking for contributors at Devconnect Buenos Aires: The community space by Regens Unite invites people to host sessions or volunteer around themes of climate action, local resilience, and regenerative economies.
• Arbitrum DAO launches $25K grants for “crypto cities”: The new Orbit Track initiative supports builders connecting real-world businesses, local economies, and onchain liquidity—advancing Arbitrum’s vision for economic interoperability.
• Web3Privacy updates privacy project explorer: The revamped dashboard helps users compare privacy tools across 700+ Web3 projects, making it easier to assess transparency, technology, and data protection standards across ecosystems.
• Ethereum Foundation launches Privacy Cluster: A new team of 47 experts will advance privacy on Ethereum through tools like Semaphore, MACI, and Kohaku, plus an Institutional Privacy Task Force.

Crypto Altruists content & updates 💚

• 🎧 Episode 222: Communicating Ethereum’s Human Story: Brooke Lacey & Evan Mann discuss how storytelling and education are shaping Ethereum’s cultural narrative—and how Octant is helping creators bring Web3 to wider audiences.
• 🎧 Episode 223: Building a New Creator Economy on Ethereum: Natalie Crue, Ivie Satijn, and Riley explore how Ethereum’s creator economy is evolving—where ownership, funding, and storytelling meet public goods through Octant’s support.
• 📊 Infographic: Decentralized Science vs. Traditional Science: A visual breakdown of how Web3 tools like DAOs, IP-NFTs, and tokenized research are reshaping science, making funding, collaboration, and credit more open, equitable, and community-driven.
• 🎧 Episode 224: Pesabase—Stablecoins for Real-World Finance: Eric Alsop, CTO of Pesabase, shares how blockchain and stablecoins are transforming remittances, building South Sudan’s first digital bank, and empowering local economies through community-driven finance.
• 📊 Infographic: How Ethereum Powers Real-World Impact: Explore how Ethereum drives impact across finance, climate, science, public goods, and digital rights—featuring projects like MiniPay, Regen Network, Gitcoin, Octant, and Aztec turning blockchain into real-world solutions.

Recommended resources 📖

• a16z's 2025 State of Crypto report: The latest analysis highlights how crypto “grew up” in 2025—with institutional adoption surging, stablecoins hitting $46T in transactions, and global users exceeding 700M—as AI and blockchain convergence accelerates.
• Edge City's takeaways from Bhutan visit: The community of builders and researchers spent eight days in Bhutan exploring the Gelephu Mindfulness City project, learning how the country is combining technology, tradition, and local collaboration to shape its future.
• Artizen & how its onchain endowment model works: Artizen’s open design shows how token sales, buybacks, and fees create a self-sustaining treasury that continuously funds artists & creatives.

🌟 Project highlight: GSR Foundation

At Crypto Altruists, we’re grateful to be supported by people and organizations who care deeply about using crypto to create meaningful change. One of those is The GSR Foundation, and today we’re taking a closer look at how they do that not just by supporting impactful projects, but by experimenting with new models of funding and coordination.

Founded in 2023 to mark the 10th anniversary of GSR (a global crypto trading firm), the foundation was created to help ensure the benefits of frontier technologies like crypto reach communities that are often overlooked. They focus on long-term relationships, trust-based funding, and giving partners the freedom to experiment.

They offer support through a few key tracks:

• Empower grants provide up to $250K in multi-year funding for ambitious tech-for-good projects like UNICEF’s CryptoFund and Mercy Corps Ventures.
• Enable grants help newer or smaller organizations get started, often with $30K to $60K in early support. And through partners like ShelterBox, they’re also ready to respond quickly to humanitarian emergencies.

GSR Foundation is also exploring new ways to give. Instead of selling ETH to donate, they stake it using Lido and send the rewards to their nonprofit partners. It’s a model that preserves the core capital while generating ongoing support for social impact work.

We’ve been inspired by their approach and proud to count them among our supporters. GSR Foundation is showing that crypto-native capital, when paired with trust and creativity, can create the conditions for impact to take root and last.

💡 Bring Web3 into your nonprofit's mission

At Crypto Altruists, we help nonprofits, foundations, and impact organizations cut through the noise and explore blockchain in a way that’s practical, mission-aligned, and grounded in real-world use cases.

Whether you’re curious about crypto donations, AI & transparency tools, or how Web3 can strengthen your programs and services, our tailored consulting services and interactive workshops meet you where you are, no jargon, no hype. Let’s work together to unlock the opportunities that make sense for your cause.

Book a call with us today to start the conversation. 🤝

📬 Stay connected

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We’re always open to feedback or suggestions, so feel free to reach out to us at partnerships@cryptoaltruists.com. And don’t forget to stay engaged with us on social media! Follow us for real-time updates and join the conversation around crypto for good.

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See you in the next edition! 💚