The Lifeboat Foundation claims projects like seed preservation and space habitats but lacks evidence of progress.
The Lifeboat Foundation continues to assert its status as a government-sanctioned charity, notwithstanding the lack of clarity surrounding its operational procedures regarding received donations.
Although the organization, which was first reported by Protos in 2021, is certified as a 501(c)3 charity, its donors—including several prominent cryptocurrency advocates and founders, including Vitalik Buterin, Stuart Hoegner, JR Willett, and Charles Hoskinson—are better known in the cryptocurrency community.
The foundation claims to be developing a seed preserver, “space habitats,” and numerous shields for Earth (Nano Shield, Black Hole Shield, and Asteroid Shield).
However, it is not immediately clear where its donations are spent. No evidence of progress regarding these has been disclosed to the general public.
The Lifeboat Foundation has been subject to IRS auto-revocation since 2020, which signifies that the organization has failed to formally submit the requisite documentation to the IRS to maintain its tax-deductible status for donors.
The entity has not submitted any documentation since 2016.
Notwithstanding this, the foundation explicitly declares on its donation page that “to the maximum extent permitted by law, all membership fees and other contributions are tax deductible.”
Examining the Enigma of Lifeboat Foundation’s Donations
Despite the Lifeboat Foundation’s assertion of possessing a Bitcoin endowment fund, the hundreds of thousands of coins and millions of dollars in Bitcoin contributed to the organization remain unknown.
Presently, the cryptocurrency wallet addresses that are being listed contain almost no content.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in prominent charity forgeries, prompting the IRS to issue donor advisories regarding fraudulent organizations.
If you are unsure whether a charity is a 501(c)3 or whether its claims are valid, and you are considering donating, please utilize the tax-exempt organization search tool provided by the IRS.
