How the Binance Charity Foundation is reducing period poverty 

The Binance Charity Foundation (BCF) is turning to philanthropy to promote global cryptocurrency adoption. The charity platform, along with another 46 organisations, will provide one million women with sanitary products to combat period poverty.

The Binance Charity Foundation is a blockchain-based platform supported by cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The project is powered by the “Pink Care Token” (PCAT). When live, the token will help people donate more easily to ensure that sanitary products reach the places they are needed most. The women in question will receive PCATs and can exchange them for the supplies necessary.

The Binance Charity Foundation claims to offer “100% transparency, zero corruption, and minimal transaction costs”. Some of the most well-known partners in the project are ZCoin, IOST, Ripple, Paxful, Tron, and of course, Binance.

What you should know about period poverty

Period poverty affects millions of women across the globe – not only in developing countries, but also in places like the US or the UK.

Over 2.3 million people worldwide live without essential sanitation services. Many of them have no menstrual hygiene education. Moreover, in some communities, menstruation is still stigmatised, and menstruating women are considered impure and isolated for days.

Women have no access to hygiene products and are forced to use unsafe materials, such as rags, sawdust, or even cassava leaves as sanitary pads. These practices often lead to general uncleanliness and infections.

However, period poverty isn’t only a problem for developing nations. In many Western countries, girls and women can’t afford menstrual sanitary products due to the so-called “pink tax”. Countries like Germany, Italy, and the US tax period products as luxury items, which makes menstrual supplies very expensive for many women.

The first batch of Pink Care Tokens, together with sanitary products, is scheduled to arrive in Uganda in the middle of July. According to the blockchain charity, this project has the support of the local government and minister-level politicians.

How the Pink Care Token works

The PCAT is the “first social-impact stablecoin” built on top of the Binance blockchain. The token is backed with goods, not money. The value of 1 PCAT is tied to the number of sanitary pads necessary for one female for one entire year.

The token was designed to maintain a stable value against the currency rate, with a 100% accountable charity impact. The PCAT is meant to provide complete transparency of donations.

To ensure the quality of the products, the Binance Charity Foundation plans to launch a formal bidding process among suppliers. The manufacturer that provides the best value for money will win the deal.

Depending on the terms of the deal, the Binance Charity Foundation will set the price of the goods and peg each token to a specific amount of pads. This approach permits the PCAT to be independent of the USD or any other fiat currency.

Once the bidding is over, the tokens are secured on the blockchain and sent to the end users directly. With no intermediaries in place, there’s no risk of price fluctuations.

What happens when people donate

The Binance Charity Foundation receives donations in cryptocurrency and uses the funds to issue Pink Care Tokens on the Binance Chain.

Through local suppliers, young women who are the end beneficiaries of the project redeem each token for a year’s supply of menstrual hygiene products. The BCF’s suppliers convert the PCAT to Uganda shillings through the Binance Uganda Exchange. Since the token is non-speculative, PCATs can’t be changed to any other crypto or fiat.

The end beneficiaries have to provide evidence of having received the products. They’re also encouraged to share feedback on social media.

Binance will also release transfer records to enable public monitoring. Until now, the project has raised 14.27 BTC (around $168,000).

The Binance Charity Foundation combats trust issues

The Binance Charity Foundation isn’t the first to address the period poverty issue. However, the organisation is the first to use blockchain technology to streamline the donation process.

According to the charity platform, traditional charities deal with a lack of transparency and inefficiency, with significant effects on costs. Moreover, the industry has to deal with recurring problems, like fraud and money laundering.

On the other hand, blockchain-based philanthropy could help charities gain trust and eliminate intermediary costs.

The Binance Charity Foundation runs several projects in Uganda besides the Pink Care Token. The organisation has started an initiative called “Binance for Children”, a project that gives children access to food, scholastic materials, and electricity.