Raising Bitcoins for the Philippines

What assurances are there that any of this money will actually get to the Phillipines?

I've never heard of this website before, BTC is an anonymous currency which isn't traced by normal financial systems, and so as a result exactly how can anyone be sure it reaches the actual needy?

None of the normal charities have any systems with which to receive BitCoin, so who exactly would people be donating to? Not to mention BTC exchanges die at a rate of 1 a week these days.

Hi All, Avish from BitMe here.

RE: assurances - https://blockchain.info/address/1Fm8XdPvGzKbfuHrBrsK8d7ZDLvC... - you can track the donation amounts to the wallet publicly. At the end of each month, we'll convert the BTC into USD and send a check to the Red Cross for the full converted amount.

RE: BitMe blog - we took BitMe down earlier this year after losing a banking partner. We've since relaunched with crypto/crypto trading and will be rolling out BTC/USD with our new banking partner in the coming weeks. You've probably never heard of us because we've kept a low profile while going through the process of becoming compliant. We're currently backed by Tim Draper, Ludlow Ventures, the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and were incubated at Boost VC.

RE: why not use a traceable currency - we believe the global bitcoin community can have a positive impact on relief efforts in the Philippines by using bitcoins as a means of donation. That's the purpose of our efforts with this campaign.

Hope that helps, Avish

Great job!

Why not use traceable currency? I don't see the advantage of using btc here.