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Thinking big to fix a broken system.
Walrus Protocol will leverage the blockchain to make giving to charity transparent, cost-effective, and engaging.
The proportion of people who give to charity is at a 23 year low.
How did we get here?
Lack of transparency
Just 45% say they trust charities. In the UK alone, it is estimated that people would give £1 billion more to charity each year if they understood where their money goes.
Cost inefficiency
Fees from middlemen, such as donation platforms and foreign exchange agents, must be eliminated. The high financial burden of donation is the primary reason people don't give more.
Poor engagement
For charities, donor acquisition and retention are as difficult as they are important. The donor pool is shrinking, and it is clear that new solutions are needed.
A better way of doing good
Walrus Protocol is a blockchain donation platform that facilitates and incentivises giving, empowering users to maximise their positive impact.
How it works
Track your donation's impact
All donors will receive on-chain verification when their money reaches its intended recipient, and will be able to track how these funds are spent using the platform's integrated block explorer.
Donors to transparency projects will receive live impact updates through image uploads to IPFS, which are to be sent to donors on the blockchain in real time, as the charity's deploys its deliverable units (such as delivering food aid parcels or planting trees). This will allow donors to see and quantify how their money is spent, and will give charities an excellent tool to connect with their donors.
Make your money go further
Donations to charities on Walrus are direct, bypassing cut-taking middlemen and foreign exchange agents, maximising the value that reaches the intended recipient.
Unlike many crypto-based and traditional philanthropy platforms, Walrus is a decentralised protocol, charging zero donation fees.
After donating, users will receive non-tradable tokenised voting rights in large donation proposals. This means that, after giving just once, donors can continue to support causes they care about indefinitely.
Do good without donating: WAL
WAL will be a first-of-its kind positive impact token, serving as a vehicle for users to do good.
WAL token holders and other protocol users will be entitled to free donation tokens, which they will then be able to send to support any cause of choice, with all funds coming from the protocol's revenue, rather than their own pocket. All WAL transactions, with the exception of donations to charity, will incur a small fee on top of the gas fee. This allows crypto market volatility to fund charitable causes.
WAL holders will also receive voting rights in large donation proposals (and protocol governance), which will further boost their impact.
Our Pilot Transparency Project
Walrus Labs is collaborating with Moor Trees to run a first-of-its kind tree plantation transparency project.
Walrus Protocol is currently being developed
If you want to stay up to speed on the project's progress by joining our mailing list, and perhaps also drop a line to the Walrus Labs team, here's your place to do it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I become a contributor?
We are accepting donations to fund protocol development, and would also love to discuss opportunities for more hands-on contribution or investment. Contact: info@walruslabs.org.
Who is behind Walrus?
Freddie John, a biomedical researcher, and Benjamin Ho, an economist. See paper for more info!
What will Walrus look like?
Walrus's front-end will be a standard donation and crowdfunding platform, with tailored dashboards to manage donations and on-chain incentives.
When will the WAL token launch and when will the protocol go live?
We expect a full launch at some point in mid-late 2025, but our first pilot project is underway now!
Which currencies will I be able to donate?
Any approved stablecoin, such as USDC, and accrued free donation tokens.
How exactly will free donations work?
Each month, WAL holders receive free donation tokens, called WAL-DONO, which can only be sent to whitelisted charity addresses. When a user has sent their WAL-DONO to their charity of choice, the WAL-DONO is burnt and an equal amount of WAL tokens are concomitantly sent from the WAL Pool smart contract. This allows users to support causes they care about, at no personal cost.
What's the big vision?
The big vision is for Walrus to become a on-chain ecosystem for creating positive global impact in a transparent and efficient way.
New ways to do good without donating will be integrated, including standard DeFi protocols and other giving projects, where all profits fund Walrus's donation ecosystem. This will mean that users can undertake their usual on-chain DeFi activities, all whilst funding charitable forces. Anyone will be able to become a donor, fundraiser, or builder within this community-run machine that drives funding of worthy causes.