
Pineapple Fund's $56M Giving Spree - burkaman
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Anonymous-Bitcoin-Donor-Rains/242606/#.WpXBu7xClmA.twitter
======
anythingnonidin
Really great to see MDMA research (MAPS, Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies) get funded by Pine. MDMA seems to be a high potential
therapy.

I hope the next crypto philanthropist funds other psychedelic research, e.g.
Heffter Research. [https://heffter.org/](https://heffter.org/) Psilocybin and
classic psychedelics also seems to be very high potential - e.g. for addiction
[0], problem solving/creativity [1], and for depression/anxiety [2].

[0]: [https://hub.jhu.edu/2014/09/11/magic-mushrooms-
smoking/](https://hub.jhu.edu/2014/09/11/magic-mushrooms-smoking/)

[1]: [https://thethirdwave.co/psychedelics-
creativity/](https://thethirdwave.co/psychedelics-creativity/)

[2]: [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/health/hallucinogenic-
mus...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/health/hallucinogenic-mushrooms-
psilocybin-cancer-anxiety-depression.html)

~~~
anythingnonidin
Looks like Pineapple Fund donated some to
[http://csp.org/psilocybin/](http://csp.org/psilocybin/), awesome!

------
philsnow
I wonder if this is somebody really being philanthropic, or if they just
control a ton of bitcoin that they can't access (for fear of taxation /
Questions Being Asked), so they drop it on charities they're sympathetic to...

~~~
got2surf
Isn't it philanthropy regardless? If Pine benefits, it's only because society
benefits.

~~~
Tarq0n
It's difficult to realize a structural benefit to society through charity.

~~~
acct1771
Could you elaborate on your meaning?

------
eganist
> OpenMRS said Pine had contributed software patches to the effort previously.

Philanthropy.com did this person a grave disservice. This drastically narrows
the donor pool and is quite in violation of their earlier statement:

> Pine agreed to a phone interview with the Chronicle on the condition that
> the article include no identifying information.

~~~
BugsJustFindMe
It's third-hand reporting. OpenMRS has it on their website.

------
bradhe
Noob question here: You receive $1mil in bitcoin as someone who knows nothing
about bitcoin...then what? Do you sell it? Do you need to go find someone to
sell it to?

I'd imagine you can't just go to an exchange and unload $1mil in bitcoin as
most exchanges have limits on how much you can trade at once without more
advanced accounts?

~~~
justboxing
I think you can open an Institutional account at one of the exchanges like
Gemini or Kraken and have them unload it for you slowly.

[https://gemini.com/institutions/](https://gemini.com/institutions/)

------
headsoup
Good on him/her/them. It would be really nice if more wealthy people donated
to the Open source world, to organisations like the EFF and mental health
organisations etc (without strings attached...).

~~~
celticninja
Most of those wealthy people you mean are older and not as technologically
aware, so the charities they fund are ones that they know of (and bring them
more social kudos) such as AIDS/Cancer/Human Rights organisations.

------
Noos
These are cryptocurrency gifts, right? How would the recipients realize the
money from them, or would they treat them as assets to hold?

~~~
BugsJustFindMe
I believe that many/most organizations have policies to convert unstable
assets asap.

------
BugsJustFindMe
How does taxation/deduction work on bitcoins which were not a taxable asset
when originated but are maybe sort of an asset now that they're being given
away? Is this donation of magic beans deductible now that the IRS has maybe
started to notice? I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't have been deductible a
year ago.

------
postit
Loosing access to a 69 BTC PK from 2012 still gives me nightmares, but I feel
happy for the ones who made enough money to spread good will.

------
jcsnv
Has the wallet (or wallets) they have been sending from been revealed?

Edit: They link to the transactions on the pineapple fund site

------
lambdadmitry
Not sure how to feel about that. Given that bitcoin is a strictly negative-sum
game now, all that money came from greater fools in the end (they just don't
know it yet). It's somewhat Robin Hood-esque (except that a majority of bag
holders will be poor people duped into buying btc) and the morality of it is…
complicated.

------
andruby
For people who skip the article and go straight to the comments. This is
indeed about the Pineapple fund [0].

[0] [https://pineapplefund.org](https://pineapplefund.org)

~~~
supbitcoin
I have a question, how can you register a website by being anonymous ? I don't
understand, anyone care to explain ? Thanks.

~~~
joshumax
Most domain registrars allow you to add "privacy protection" for a nominal
fee, which basically replaces your name under the WHOIS registrant info with
theirs instead of yours. While this effectively shields outsiders from
discovering who you are, the registrar likely knows the information of the
original buyer...

~~~
redbeard0x0a
It probably can be handled by a lawyer and/or trust as well. Even if they get
past the registrar privacy, they get some business entity or lawyer contact.

------
lucbocahut
The source of the funds should be a concern for the charities involved in my
opinion. I find the recipients a little quick to praise the donor with little
being said about how the bitcoins were obtained. Maybe this information was
simply not made public, and that would be fine if there was due diligence.
However the fact more established institutions did not receive gifts is an
eyebrow raiser: it is more likely these larger institutions would have taken
steps to ensure the funds were legit to start with.

~~~
BugsJustFindMe
If someone tells you that they personally dug up some gold in a mountain in
Colorado, how exactly would you go about verifying their claim?

~~~
lucbocahut
Mining rights, proper registration and certification of the gold nugget, etc.,
etc. It’s fairly common in the financial industry to check where funds come
from (“know your customer”). It’s done to prevent money laundering and make
illicit activity harder.

~~~
BugsJustFindMe
Ok, but now there are no mining rights or certifications for virtual magic
beans.

