London, United kingdom, June 23rd, 2025,
Chainwire
The GSR Foundation has
announced its latest initiative as an Institutional Impact Staker
by supporting Mercy Corps Ventures through the
Lido Impact Staking
mechanism. This partnership marks a significant step forward in
the evolution of philanthropic finance, enabling capital
preservation while unlocking sustained funding for high-impact
development work.
Lido Impact Staking allows institutional capital to remain in
ETH, while the staking rewards generated by that ETH are directed
towards funding vetted organisations tackling systemic challenges
in emerging markets. By choosing to support Mercy Corps Ventures in
this way, the GSR Foundation demonstrates continued confidence in
this novel, transparent mechanism for philanthropic giving - one
that aligns long-term value creation with verifiable impact.
Impact Through Staking
Mercy Corps Ventures, the impact investing arm of global
development agency Mercy Corps, is exploring yield-based mechanisms
to support its mission of building venture solutions that increase
the resilience of underserved communities.
With its Crypto for Good Fund, MCV has partnered with over 30
protocols and startups to reach over 3,000,000 users and provide
innovative financial solutions for underserved communities. These
solutions have resulted in $10M+ in on-chain transaction volume,
generating significant time and cost savings for low-income
populations across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The staking
returns will support the growth of the Crypto For Good Fund.
This collaboration between GSR
Foundation and Mercy Corps Ventures reflects the growing
momentum behind yield-based giving, particularly in the Ethereum
ecosystem. It highlights how financial innovation can power the
work of global development actors, while ensuring that donated
capital remains productive and intact.
As more institutions begin to explore staking as a means to fund
real-world outcomes, the partnership between GSR Foundation and
Mercy Corps Ventures serves as a model for future philanthropy,
where the capital is efficient, transparent, and puts
impact-first.
About Mercy Corps Ventures
Mercy Corps Ventures is the
impact investment arm of Mercy Corps, an
international development agency (501c3) operating in 40+ countries
around the world. MCV has made 50+ equity investments, including
crypto startups such as Goldfinch (Warbler Labs) and Open Forest
Protocol, and has launched 20+ real-world crypto use cases through
the Crypto For Good Fund.
About Lido Impact Staking
Lido Impact Staking (LIS) emerged
alongside Ethereum’s transition to Proof of Stake, spearheaded by
Launchnodes - a company established in April 2020 to empower
individuals and institutions to operate their own Ethereum
validator nodes while retaining full custody of their assets. As a
pioneer in non-custodial staking infrastructure, Launchnodes has
played a crucial role in making decentralized staking more
accessible and secure.
In 2023, the Lido Ecosystem Grants Organization (LEGO) awarded
Launchnodes strategic funding to develop a dedicated middleware
layer that would enable staking rewards to be redirected toward
high-impact social causes. Built atop Lido’s battle-tested staking
framework, this innovation marked the beginning of what is now
known as Lido Impact Staking.
Today, LIS collaborates with global NGOs, philanthropic
foundations, development institutions, and mission-aligned
investors to redefine how impact is funded. By channeling ETH
staking rewards into the support of digital public goods and
humanitarian projects, LIS offers a crypto-native, regenerative
approach to philanthropy, unlocking continuous, on-chain funding
for a better world.
Users can start
supporting Mercy Corps Ventures by impact staking
Contact
Andrei
Druta
Launchnodes
andrei@impactstake.com