The explosive growth in virtual currency (also referred to as cryptocurrency, digital assets, tokens and digital currency) is evidence of increasing popularity and acceptance of it as a new investment asset class. With the huge appreciation in the value of many investors’ positions, there has been an increased interest in charitable contributions. While there are now more than 8,000 different virtual currencies, not all of them are suitable for charitable contributions. Only virtual currencies that are convertible into a fiat currency are of value to charities because most charities will want to convert the contribution to US dollars or another fiat currency as soon as possible.

Not all charities will accept virtual currency donations. The GivingBlock website identifies some charities that accept virtual currencies, although many charities that accept such donations are not identified on that website. These include, for example, the Red Cross, UNICEF and Heifer International...