By Opeyemi Quadri 
A $200,000 cryptocurrency donation Binance made to a Maltese cancer charity in 2018 has soared in value to nearly $37 million, yet remains untouched after years of dispute over verification and transparency.
- Binance and its users donated 30,644 BNB (worth $200,000 at the time) to the Malta Community Chest Fund in 2018.
- The donation is now valued at about $37 million but remains unclaimed.
- The standoff stems from a verification dispute between Binance and the Maltese charity.
- Binance insists on direct transfers to verified patients, while the charity cites data privacy concerns.
- The issue has remained unresolved since 2021.
What began as a generous crypto donation to help terminally ill cancer patients in Malta has turned into a long-running stalemate. Binance’s 2018 gift of 30,644 BNB, worth around $200,000 at the time, has grown to roughly $37 million based on current prices, according to a Director at Coinbase Conor Grogan.
Grogan highlighted the dormant funds in an X (formerly Twitter) post on Monday, urging Maltese authorities to act. “Any Malta citizens, please let your government know that these funds are accessible,” he wrote.
The donation was part of a Binance Charity campaign meant to support the Malta Community Chest Fund (MCCF), which provides assistance to cancer patients. However, despite the massive increase in value, the funds have remained frozen in the receiving wallet for seven years.
The stalemate dates back to 2021, when relations between Binance and MCCF soured. The Maltese charity accused Binance of failing to file accounts for several years, a claim later withdrawn after the missing documents were “found in an electronic folder,” according to the Times of Malta.
Since then, Binance has reportedly been waiting for MCCF to verify patient information, including medical bills and wallet addresses, before disbursing the funds. The charity, however, has refused to share those details, citing confidentiality and privacy laws.
Binance maintains that transferring donations directly to end beneficiaries is a core part of its transparency and efficiency standards. “We believe in applying the highest levels of transparency and efficiency,” Binance said in a 2021 statement, adding that it was still awaiting MCCF’s response to a proposed solution.
No progress has been reported since then, and both organizations have declined to comment publicly.
The now-multimillion-dollar donation point the fact on how crypto volatility and regulatory friction can complicate philanthropy, even when intentions are noble.
As one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Binance has previously positioned its charity arm as a tool for transparent giving, using blockchain to track donations on-chain. But in this case, the technology’s potential benefits remain locked behind red tape and mistrust
Editorial Staff 
Dorcas Opeyemi