Cryptocurrencies aren’t just good investment tools – they can also be used to do good. Rockaway Blockchain Fund head Viktor Fischer provided a shining example of this when during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival he bought a candle from the Rückl glassworks in an auction for one bitcoin, i.e. for more than one million CZK, to support the Amnesty International non-governmental organization.
The charity auction took place last week during an evening put on by Accolade with the support of Forbes Magazine, whose editor-in-chief Petr Šimůnek also acted as the auctioneer. The item being auctioned was the Freedom Candle, designed by actress Aňa Geislerová and manufactured by the Rückl glassworks. The candle is adorned with six seagulls cut into the glass, evoking the first six “forgotten prisoners” who were the impetus for the creation of Amnesty International.
“The sky is a symbol of freedom, for me with its unlimited expanse and free-flying birds. Looking at the sky fills us with hope, with a feeling that we aren’t limited by anything, that every storm will pass, and that darkness will always finally be pierced by a ray of light,” said Geislerová regarding her design.
It was the first in a series of similar charity auctions that will take place around the world. After the Czech Republic, a candle from Rückl will also be auctioned in Norway, Great Britain, and Argentina in support of local Amnesty International branches, and like in the Czech Republic it will be designed by a local celebrity. Thanks to Viktor Fischer, however, the bar has been set very high.
During the auction at the Imperial Hotel in Karlovy Vary, the price of the candle quickly rose by tens of thousands of CZK to 200,000, when Viktor Fischer joined the auction and quickly ended it with his first bid: One bitcoin! A buzz arose among the three hundred guests in the room, because it was clear to all that the candle’s price had exceeded one million korunas. This is because at that moment one bitcoin was worth CZK 1,035,000. “I’m glad that we can help an important and good cause,” declared Viktor Fischer regarding his donation, the largest in the history of the Czech branch of Amnesty International.
Photos: Accolade
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