According to an investor presentation published Tuesday, U.S.-based payment solutions provider Shift4 announced its acquisition of The Giving Block in cash and stock for $54 million, plus a potential earnout of up to $246 million. The Giving Block is an online platform that allows over 1,300 nonprofit organizations and charities to accept crypto donations. 

As told by its annual report, the organization processed $69.64 million in crypto donations, an increase of 1,558% from 2020. Out of this amount, approximately $12.3 million came from donations by nonfungible token, or NFT, projects. Ether 

ETH

$1,397

 became the most-popular crypto donated for the first time, accounting for nearly half of the total volume. Last month, The Giving Block provided Cointelegraph with a sample list of six charities on the receiving end of crypto donations and how philanthropy has positively impacted such organizations. 

Regarding the acquisition, the team at The Giving Block wrote: 

"Shift4's status as a leading payments company with over $200 billion in annual payments volume, plus our shared commitment to taking crypto mainstream and leading on nonprofit sector payments innovation, has given us the opportunity to have the impact on the world we began dreaming up."

Meanwhile, Shift4 commented in a statement:

“Shift4 will invest further in The Giving Block's successful strategy while also pursuing a $45+ billion embedded cross-sell opportunity by bundling crypto donation capabilities with traditional card acceptance. This represents just a small portion of the $470+ billion nonprofit addressable markets that Shift4 will uniquely be able to pursue as a result of this acquisition.”

The Giving Block also launched its Ukraine Emergency Response Fund last week in response to the ongoing Russian invasion. Proceeds, which can be donated via Bitcoin 

BTC

$18,118

, ETH and other altcoins, will go to at least 10 humanitarian relief organizations and international nonprofits.