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NFT Charity Auction
Charity auctions are becoming digitalized through blockchain technologies, making fundraising activities more transparent and trustworthy.
Takuya Kitazawa
May 19, 2025
In partnership with
đź’– This week's byte: Charity auctions are becoming digitalized through blockchain technologies. It makes fundraising not only accessible online but also more transparent and trustworthy.
đź“Š Did You Know?
Online charity auctions are among the emerging methods of fundraising. A recent market study by Dataintelo suggests an upward trend, stating, “The global charity auction software market size was valued at USD 550 million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 950 million by 2032.”
đź“– The Story
Who, When, and Where — Context
In the early 2020s, a US-based blockchain service provider, Hedera, partnered with the Hays Caldwell Women's Center (HCWC) to help fund its new project, which aims to provide housing for women fleeing abusive homes.
Why — Challenge
The charity sector's lack of transparency, security, efficiency, and innovation has long been a major issue in fundraising. This challenge is particularly critical in charitable auctions, where trust, fairness, and confidence are key between bidders and sellers. Making such auction transactions and asset ownership transparent at scale urgently needs technology interventions.
What and How — Tech Solution
Hedera hosted an NFT (non-fungible token) charity auction on its blockchain platform. The idea was to harmonize the blockchain’s decentralized, transparent networks with the transactional, multi-player nature of auctioning. Over two auctions, they raised a significant amount in a cryptocurrency worth USD 250,000 at the time of the auction. The raised amount is donated in full to HCWC for their cause as a crypto donation.
đź’ˇ Key Insights
💰️ Charity auction is a powerful fundraising tool, yet it amplifies the common transparency-related challenges in charitable donations.
🕸️ Blockchain technology can be a powerful intervention in auctioning, where a complex web of bidders and sellers exchange timing-sensitive transactions.
🔏 Auctioning NFTs makes the ownership of the assets transparent, adding an extra layer of trustworthiness to the charitable activities.
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âś… Try This
Read another case study of an NFT charity auction and observe the potential (and risk) of the trend:
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đź’ Share your thoughts: Is there a case where the conventional, in-person setup of auctions is preferred over blockchain-based auctions for charity and fundraising? If so, why do in-person selling and bidding work better?
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