GSR Foundation Backs Mercy Corps Ventures via Lido Impact Staking, Advancing a New Model for Philanthropic Capital Deployment

[PRESS RELEASE – London, United Kingdom, June 23rd, 2025]

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