Los Angeles wildfires rage: Cryptocurrency company, user Wallet destroyed, prediction platform gambling controversy

Editor: Felix, PANews

On January 8th, local time, a severe wildfire broke out in Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, burning down thousands of houses and covering an area of over tens of thousands of hectares. So far, the fire has destroyed more than 15,000 acres of land, forcing nearly 180,000 residents to evacuate, and another 200,000 people have received evacuation orders.

The rapidly spreading fire not only threatens millions of California residents, but also poses a threat to several cryptocurrency companies and cryptocurrency community members. In fact, many have already lost their homes and belongings, including hardware wallets.

Southern California cryptocurrency company, users suffer heavy losses

The wildfire has already burned over 15,000 acres of land in Southern California, including major areas such as Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Pasadena. In addition to residences, several cryptocurrency companies have also been affected.

The staff of the Santa Monica Bitcoin office is located south of the ravaged Palisades and Sunset. Several Swan Bitcoin staff hosting the Pacific Bitcoin Conference in Santa Monica are also located directly south of the fire.

The blockchain service provider BlockDaemon is headquartered in Los Angeles, as is the cryptocurrency game developer SuperVerse. Blockchain ID and tokenization company Spring Labs is headquartered in nearby Marina del Ray. These companies have reported significant losses, including the destruction of hardware wallets containing cryptocurrency assets.

Some companies are luckier. So far, the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles (a cultural landmark in Los Angeles) has not caught fire. Crypto entertainment venues DaBank (Hawthorne) and Jungla (North Hollywood) have also been spared from wildfires.

The impact of the wildfires is not only on cryptocurrency companies, but also on cryptocurrency users. Some residents lost their cryptocurrency wallets in the wildfires. Cryptocurrency KOL Monty stated on X platform that his 70-year-old aunt lost her apartment in the Los Angeles fire. Most of her savings were in cryptocurrency, but she lost her wallet and mnemonic phrase without any backups. According to comments, her wallet mainly held Bitcoin.

Non-profit organizations are accepting cryptocurrency donations.

In order to provide assistance to relevant personnel, some charities and non-profit organizations providing assistance locally are accepting donations of cryptocurrencies and stocks.

Cryptocurrency donation platform The Giving Block has launched an 'Emergency Response Fundraising Campaign' to donate to non-profit organizations actively assisting in Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts. This fundraising campaign allows the public to choose to donate cryptocurrency to one of seven non-profit organizations.

This includes the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, the Emergency Personnel Children's Fund, the Global Empowerment Mission, the San Diego Humane Society, All Hands and Hearts, and Direct Relief.

In the donation campaign, the platform encourages people to provide assistance to the best of their ability, donating cryptocurrencies, stocks, and DAF (Note: Donor Advised Fund, donors can immediately receive tax benefits by setting up a DAF account and have the right to recommend the use of funds) to organizations that provide food, shelter, and medical services.

Givepact, another donation website dedicated to cryptocurrency, shared detailed information about foundations that accept cryptocurrency donations.

This includes Baby2Baby (note: a charity that specifically provides diapers and clothing for children from poor families), Wildland Firefighter Foundation, California Fire Foundation, Los Angeles County Animal Care Foundation, and California Community Foundation.

The platform stated that the public can donate over 30 types of cryptocurrencies to these charitable organizations and non-profit organizations, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Avax, Dogecoin, etc.

Prediction platform betting market was described as 'pathological'.

It is worth mentioning that a certain prediction platform was questioned for its 'pathological' predictions in the wildfire incident. Many users on the platform created various prediction markets for the wildfire event, predicting the spread of the fire, when it would be brought under control, and potential resignations of political figures. One user, X, claimed, 'Betting on wildfires is pathological,' while another user expressed that betting on such a tragedy is 'utterly shameless.' Some users even worried that in order to win bets, it might stimulate gamblers to cause more fires.

In this regard, the platform released a disclaimer stating, 'The devastating Palisade fire is such an event that the platform can provide valuable real-time answers to those directly affected, which traditional media cannot do.'

(The above content is excerpted and reproduced with permission from our partner PANews. Original article link )

Statement: The article represents only the author's personal views and opinions, not the perspective and position of the blockchain, and all content and views are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors should make their own decisions and trades, and the author and the blockchain will not be responsible for any direct or indirect losses incurred by investors' transactions.

Los Angeles wildfires: Cryptocurrency companies, user wallets destroyed, prediction platform controversy. This article was first published in BlockVC.