The campaign aims to restore Internet connection in the regions affected by the disastrous earthquake of 24 August. The secondary goal is to teach locals to use cryptocurrencies.

The Italian Bitcoiners Anonymous Group Earthquake Aid (IBAGEA) believes that by re-launching electronic communications they will help the devastated towns and villages return to normal life, reports Cointelegraph.

“To do this it was decided to hold a collection of international funds into Bitcoin, the digital currency that has the ability to make donations almost anonymous and that, because of its many features, it can be a fast and transparent form of intervention, seen that deposited funds are publicly verifiable at any time, without intermediaries or costs (exchange office, banks, etc.),” state the activists in a press release.

The Scottish company Berkshter LP is keen to help the Italians. It will carry out the crowdfunding campaign through its website, providing information on the situation on the ground and the progress of fundraising. The wallet address is 1KBPod31YMGYDe2QcQDEussjVJH22GRhi1.

“The funds in cryptocurrency will be stored on a hardware Trezor wallet and then made available for projects and deployment of technological infrastructures on site by the Italian bitcoiners group, from the installation of radio and wi-fi repeater antennas to restore immediately the Internet in the affected areas,” says the group. 

Apart from that, the activists are going to provide free bitcoin classes for everyone who wants to learn more about bitcoin. They are sure that such knowledge may help people in the absence of proper access to banking services.

Lyudmila Brus