Bitcoin Fund Accelerates Crisis Payments for Aid Groups

Save the Children Launches Bitcoin Fund as Aid Groups Look for Faster Crisis Payments

Save the Children has launched a new Bitcoin Fund designed to speed up how cash assistance reaches families during emergencies, while expanding the humanitarian organization’s use of crypto-based tools.

The fund will allow Save the Children to hold cryptocurrency donations for up to four years, rather than converting them immediately. The structure is intended to give donors more flexibility over when their bitcoin is converted, while helping the organization access resources more quickly when crises hit.

Save the Children described the initiative as a first-of-its-kind Bitcoin Fund for the organization, reflecting a broader effort to test whether blockchain-based systems can improve the efficiency of aid delivery—particularly in places where traditional banking and payment rails are slow or unreliable.

The fund is being launched in partnership with Fortris, a digital asset firm that will support custody so donations can be held securely for multiple years. Save the Children also plans to work with technology company Fedi Inc., including distributing bitcoin through a mobile app to selected communities as part of its testing.

Alongside holding bitcoin, Save the Children said its pilot programs will experiment with direct transfers using bitcoin, stablecoins, and digital wallets. The goal is to reduce intermediaries and delays common in traditional foreign aid flows, enabling emergency cash assistance to reach families faster.

Save the Children has accepted crypto in some form since 2013, but the new fund formalizes a longer-term approach to managing crypto donations and using them operationally. The organization also framed the initiative as a step toward greater traceability and transparency through public blockchain technology, while improving cost-efficiency in delivering support.

The move comes as established humanitarian groups increasingly explore crypto-native tools as a practical response to crisis logistics—testing whether digital assets and blockchain-based payments can improve speed, transparency, and financial inclusion in settings where conventional financial infrastructure can fall short.