Crypto Altruists: Real-World Stories of Social & Environmental Impact with Web3

For episode 258 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Shannon Lanigan , Heenal Rajani , and Marvin Paul of All In For Sport , a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) on a mission to create a “coordi-nation” to support projects that advance inclusion and empowerment through sport. This episode is part two of an ongoing conversation, so let me set the stage. In episode 245,...

For episode 257 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we welcome Erik Balsbaugh and Carole House of Open Frontier , a non-profit advocacy organization and a leading voice on how digital currencies, Artificial Intelligence, and emerging technologies can empower underserved communities and advance the values so many of us care about: inclusion, accountability, and financial freedom. A few episodes back,...

For episode 256 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Martin Simms and Aaron Rafferty , co-founders of WYDE , a social impact exchange built on Base , the Ethereum Layer 2, where transaction-based fees are directed into verified charitable grants for hunger relief. They call themselves an "Impact Exchange," and the model is built on a concept called "contributory...

Today we’re excited to kick off a brand new series: Building for Good with G$, where we will explore the people, projects, and communities powering the GoodDollar Ecosystem . We’re thankful to our friends at GoodDollar for partnering on this series, and in the coming episodes, we’re going to take you deep inside one of the most interesting ecosystems in the Web3 for good space, exploring everythin...

For episode 255 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we're doing something a little different. No guest, no interview, just a conversation about something that's been on my mind: the parallels between crypto's hype cycle and the moment AI is in right now. A few years ago, we were told crypto would change everything. It would bank the unbanked, topple corrupt institutions, create generat...

For episode 254 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Alison, Director at Buddies for Paws , a charitable initiative within the BONK ecosystem that's leveraging blockchain technology to support animal welfare and wildlife conservation worldwide. Every donation made through Buddies for Paws is matched 100% by BONK, and to date, the community has raised almost $600,000 for a...

For episode 253 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Maksym Zalevskyi , Founder of GEN Ukraine , the Ukrainian branch of the Global Ecovillage Network. GEN Ukraine is a grassroots network of over 60 ecovillages , family farms, and intentional communities across the country. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, these communities have become sanctuaries for displaced...

For episode 252 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Paul Glavin , a contributor to 1Hive and Gardens , a bottom-up governance framework for Web3 ecosystems. Gardens provides coordination infrastructure and funding mechanisms designed to help communities fund public goods in a way that's healthy and sustainable. In today’s discussion you’ll learn: 🗳️ How conviction voting...

For episode 251 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome David Machuche and Victor Muhagachi of NEDA Labs , and special Co-Host Jon Ruth of The Solar Foundation , for the final episode of our series exploring the Solar Savings Circles pilot in Tanzania. Today we go under the hood and explore the technology layer behind this partnership. In today’s episode you’ll discover: 🌍 How N...

For episode 250 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, Drew Simon, Founder of Crypto Altruists, takes listeners on a guided tour of The Quiet Revolution - five specific frontlines where crypto is functioning as humanitarian infrastructure, creating real impact, for real people, all over the world. Each one tells a different story. But together, they paint a picture of something much bigger: that crypto’...

 For episode 249 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Alinagwe Mwaselela, Director of JUKUMU TZ , and Coleen Chase, Co-Founder of The Solar Foundation . This is a continuation of our recent conversation exploring the work of The Solar Foundation and their partners in Tanzania. In part one, we looked at the partnership from a higher level, and today, we're going to the gro...

For episode 248 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Solène Daviaud, founder of Dev3pack , an organization on a mission to support new builders in Web3 and AI through tools, mentorship, and hands-on learning opportunities. This May, Dev3pack is hosting their Global Hackathon , bringing together builders from around the world to experiment at the intersection of Web3 and AI. In...

For episode 247 of Crypto Altruists, we share a special documentary-style episode featuring Tetiana of Alliance for Public Health and Ivan, a Ukrainian veteran who tragically lost his sight in the war in 2022. We explore the Touchpoint rehabilitation program , Ivan's powerful story of resilience, rehabilitation, and hope. , and how Web3 can build new pathways for sustained support. In today’s...

For episode 246, we welcome back Jon Ruth and Coleen Chase, Co-Founders of The Solar Foundation , a nonprofit accelerating access to off-grid solar & productive appliances for underserved communities in Africa. They're behind the Solar Savings Circles project , which seeds communities with solar assets and leverages them as the foundation for savings groups that can grow, invest, and buil...

For episode 245 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome Heenal, Marv, and rathermercurial of SuperBenefit , a decentralized collective on a mission to develop the social and financial flywheels that enable the invention and acceleration of a better world. We discuss their Reimagining Power series , a body of research exploring how Web3 can transform power dynamics in philanthropy...

For episode 244 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re excited to welcome back Jaydeep Korde , CEO of Launchnodes and Founder of Lido Impact Staking . When we last spoke, Lido Impact Staking was a bold new idea: what if you could donate a portion of your staking rewards to fund verified social impact projects, all while keeping your principal intact? It was a powerful counter-narrative to traditio...

‍For episode 243, we welcome Stefan Deiss , Co-Founder and CEO of The Hashgraph Group , a Web3 technology company building enterprise-grade solutions in the Hedera ecosystem . We explore the intersection of climate action, supply chain integrity, and distributed ledger technology , and their collaboration with CONFED, the Confederation of Coconut Farmers Organizations of the Philippines, to establ...

For episode 242, we take a break from the regular format for a special live episode highlighting our recent community space: "Impact Onchain: Bridging the Gap for Nonprofits and Changemakers," where we welcomed our partners The GSR Foundation and Social Equation Hub for a fascinating conversation on how we can successfully onboard nonprofits to Web3, and where we also shared an update ab...

For episode 241, we welcome Will Ruddick, Founder of Grassroots Economics and architect behind Sarafu Network and the Cosmo-Local Credit DAO. We are also joined by a special Co-Host, Coleen Chase , who brings great perspective from her work with community saving circles with The Solar Foundation . You’ll learn: 🌍 How Grassroots Economics is empowering communities to create their own local economi...

For episode 240, we welcome Matthew Keller, Impact Lead at the Algorand Foundation , and Nigel Pont, Senior Advisor for Humanitarian Affairs at both HesabPay and the Algorand Foundation, for a fascinating conversation on the role of blockchain in building more resilient and impactful humanitarian infrastructure. You’ll learn: 🌍 How the humanitarian aid sector is facing a crisis of funding, trust,...

For Episode 239, we’re excited to welcome Rael Kilonzo, Developer Community Lead , and Hadar Rottenberg, Tech Lead at GoodDollar , a protocol designed to deliver digital universal basic income at scale , leveraging blockchain to financially empower people around the world, regardless of where they live or what access they have to traditional financial systems. You’ll learn: 💰 How GoodDollar is us...

For episode 236, we’re excited to welcome Bill Laboon, VP of Ecosystem at Web3 Foundation , a nonprofit organization supporting the growth of the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems . You’ll learn: 🌍 How Encointer is transforming community aid in Tanzania, achieving a 240% multiplier effect by blending blockchain with local practices like rotating savings groups 🪪 Why Proof of Personhood and decentra...

For Episode 237 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re going to something a bit different. In this special solo episode, host Drew Simon reflects on the current state of crypto; its capture by bad actors, its association with extreme political movements, and its potential as infrastructure for democracy rather than authoritarianism. He issues a call to action for builders to commit to transparency...

For episode 236, we’re excited to welcome Jamie Green , COO of Superset , a crypto start-up on a mission to improve stablecoin efficiency & reliability. Before building in Web3, he worked across startups, venture, and the United Nations; including on programs supporting Syrian refugees with blockchain. In this episode, we dive into why fragmented stablecoin liquidity across chains is one of th...

For episode 235, we’re excited to welcome Mahesh Murthy , Founder of Karma , a platform helping ecosystems fund projects in the open, and helping builders turn real work into reputation that sticks. We explore what’s broken in crypto funding, why reputation portability is essential for builders, how their Grantee Accountability Protocol ( GAP) and onchain attestations shift trust dynamics, and wha...