Third-largest cryptocurrency donates $29 million to teachers in need

You can't say cryptocurrencies have never done anything good.

Wednesday, education crowdfunding website DonorsChoose.org announced an enormous donation from cryptocurrency company Ripple, and its eponymous cryptocurrency ripple. The company behind the unique crypto, which has quickly risen to be the third-largest alternative currency behind ethereum and bitcoin, announced that it has donated $29 million to fund every project currently posted on DonorsChoose.

DonorsChoose allows teachers to ask for crowdfunded donations to give their classrooms books, educational technology, field trip assistance, and more. With Ripple's donation, DonorsChoose said in a statement that all 35,000 classroom requests on the site have been funded. The donations will affect roughly 1 million students and teachers in about 1 in 6 of all American public schools.

"DonorsChoose.org reached out to Ripple, and it is indeed the largest donation that DonorsChoose.org has ever received as well as the largest reported donation of cryptocurrency to a single charity ever," a spokesperson for DonorsChoose said via email. "The projects are currently in the process of being fulfilled thanks to this donation and all requests on the website ... are new."

Ripple, in a blog post announcing the donation, hoped its donation would inspire others to follow suit and support those new requests.

"You can join us by contributing to the new projects that teachers are already creating on DonorsChoose.org. As part of the #BestSchoolDay campaign, you can give to teachers and students within your community, where you grew up or just because they inspire you," the blog post read. "We’re proud to be working with DonorsChoose.org to nurture the next generation of leaders at public schools across America."

According to the blog post, the donation was made using ripple's own token-based payment system, XRP, with a total value of $29 million.

The two companies kicked off the announcement with the #BestSchoolDay hashtag, celebrating the donation.

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Teachers across the county woke up to the news this morning and used the hashtag to express their tear-jerking thanks to Ripple.

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DonorsChoose also wants to use this #BestSchoolDay to help teachers make the best use out of the site.

"Also, as part of the #BestSchoolDay campaign, DonorsChoose.org is setting up a fund that is dedicated to allocating resources to teachers who are new to using the platform," the DonorsChoose spokesperson said.

So, the next time you want to groaningly roll your eyes at the word "blockchain," maybe this bit of uplifting news will make you pause ... before you eventually roll your eyes.