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Bullish’s trading game winnings help Save the Children and the Blockchain Education Network

News Dec 29, 2021 3 min read

When our Bullish exchange was planning for a seven-week pilot program that involved three trading games with cash prizes, we knew that it was possible that not every winner would be able to collect the prizes. 

Because some jurisdictions have restrictions on trading games, including setting a ceiling for how much prize money can be collected, we made it known at the start of the pilot program that prize money would be donated to charity for any ineligible winners.

The solution from our bosses was simple: donate to charities. But which ones? Cindy Lee, manager of product marketing for Bullish exchange, swung into action to puzzle this out. Working with colleagues in the Marketing & Communications department, Hong Kong-based Cindy came up with a list of seven potential non-profit recipients.

The common denominator? They all had to have a connection with cryptocurrencies or blockchain. “I was really happy to hear that we had decided to give away some of the game prize money,” Cindy said. “It was really special for Bullish to be able to do this for the first time.”

Four South Korea-based winners of the trading games in the pilot, which ended on September 13, 2021, all picked Save the Children for their surplus prize winnings, The global champion for children’s rights was one of the first international non-profit organizations to accept a donation in bitcoin in 2013 when it was working on relief for Typhoon Haiyan that struck the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

The children's charity that has been operating for more than a century received a wired donation of US$134,240 in November. “We were pleasantly surprised and puzzled by the unexpected donation,” said Ettore Rossetti, Lead Advisor, Technology/Marketing/Innovation for the Connecticut-based organization. “But we of course appreciated the donation especially this year when so many children need help.”

More than 3,300 users globally consisting of retail and institutional participants road-tested the Bullish trading platform using simulated crypto assets and paper money to compete in three trading games that offered a total of US$525,000 in cash prizes. 

The other recipient was the Blockchain Education Network (BEN). Uncollected prize money from one of the trading game winners resulted in BEN receiving a cash donation of US$100,000. The international group, comprising 60+ chapters in six continents, focuses on building a network of student organizations for blockchain education, innovation, and development. Formed in 2014 by the bitcoin clubs from the University of Michigan, MIT, and Stanford, BEN has grown to thousands of members worldwide, with a focus in reaching students from emerging regions such as Latin America, Africa and India.

"We had no previous contact with Bullish before the donation, though we are very familiar with Bullish's parent company, Block.one,” said Erick Pinos, President of BEN. “We were excited to receive these funds, which will help us scale our education efforts to students in more regions, as well as to assist students who are working on their own startups with mentorship and connections to the blockchain ecosystem.”

BEN aims to bring blockchain education to 10 million people by 2031, noting that more than 3.5 billion adults lack an understanding of basic financial concepts, and that over 1.7 billion adults worldwide don’t even have access to a bank account. Its recent programs include hosting a workshop for the Boys & Girls Club in Puerto Rico on how to mint their own Non-Fungible Tokens from drawings, and running blockchain courses with the University of Istanbul. 

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since their founding more than 100 years ago, they have changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, they give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. They do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis. Save the Children has become a crowd favorite among the crypto community. 

Cindy said that the two recipients were nicely balanced for these first gifts. “One is a well-known charity, and the other is a newer group that works in our industry,” she said. “Together they represent the type of good missions that we believe in.”

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