Beyond Speculation: How an Ultramarathon Runner is Raising Money for Children’s Charity Using Crypto

There’s no denying it, crypto is invariably a hyper-financialized environment fuelled by rampant speculation. Blistering price action and the promise of outsized profits has attracted people from all walks of life into the space for over a decade, with admittedly mixed results.

But things are starting to change. After years of experimentation and more “crypto obituaries” than can be counted, the onchain economy is starting to crystallize into the tangible, practical financial system we always dreamed it could become. 

A system that impacts real change, for real people.

Crypto is moving beyond speculation into a brave new world of pragmatism. TradFi players and institutions are recognizing that they need blockchain technology more than we need their distribution, and stablecoins are reinventing local economies all over the world.

Instead of scouring “the trenches” for the next 100x, crypto natives are turning to blockchain rails to help those in need. 

One such example is Adam Carter, or Professor Mint, who’s transforming his ultramarathon attempt into an 8-hour charity streamathon to raise money for crypto advocacy and impoverished kids in New Zealand, proving that crypto is finally ready to evolve “Beyond Speculation”.

Moving Crypto Beyond Speculation

On March 31st, Netrunner CTO Adam Carter will attempt an ultramarathon. While an impressive achievement in its own right, Professor Mint is taking his Herculean task even further, challenging the crypto community to extend his run as long as possible through crypto donations.

Half the world away in NYC, Solflare and Netrunner will be championing Carter’s run directly from the Solana Skyline HQ. Seb Moriarty, co-founder of Netrunner’s parent company, Phase, and Solflare Content Lead Maurice Chalfin will host an 8-hour streamathon, broadcasting Carter’s progress on the track amidst product demos and live interviews with the builders shaping the future of Solana.

“The whole event is about showing crypto and Solana is more than price charts, it’s about real community, real products, real impact.” - Seb Moriarty, Phase co-founder

How it Works

Targeting $50k in donations to KidsCan and Stand With Crypto, Carter will run laps around the Tauranga Domain Athletics Track in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty. Every donation to the cause will add distance to Mint’s ultramarathon, up to a ceiling of 50 miles.

Donations can be paid via Donate.gg, a Solana and Ethereum-compatible donation platform. Every $50 adds 0.1 miles to the run’s total distance, with Netrunner subscriptions adding 0.25 miles. Half of Netrunner subscription fees will be allocated to KidsCan and Stand With Crypto.

Who are the Charities?

All donations to the Beyond Speculation event are split between KidsCan and Stand With Crypto. Donate.gg, the platform responsible for processing donations, does not charge fees on payments, ensuring that all funds go directly to the chosen charity.

Founded in 2005, Kidscan is a New Zealand Charity helping children in poverty. Donations help to provide clothing, food, and healthcare treatments to New Zealand schoolchildren, of whom 1 in 7 live in material hardship.

Likely a more familiar name for onchain natives, Stand With Crypto is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting progressive legislation worldwide and uniting crypto advocates.

Beyond Speculation arrives at a critical inflection point for crypto sentiment. Amidst negative price action and widespread institutionalization of the onchain economy, crypto-natives are once again looking for meaning in an industry that is trending away from its original cypherpunk ethos. 

While charitable endeavors built on stablecoin rails are hardly a new invention, the event comes at a time when crypto is moving away from hyper-speculation towards sustainable business models and real-world use cases. Not everything needs to be a trade or an investment, and crypto can be about more than making “number go up”.

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