Many people still don’t understand cryptocurrency.

Breanna and Steve Klebanoff really get it. Having just made one of the first crypto donations directly into a donor advised fund at the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF), the Escondido couple are hoping to use their success for good. And they want to inspire others involved with crypto to do the same.

Since meeting at Northeastern University twelve years ago, Steve, a software engineer, and Breanna, a therapist, have always been willing to blaze their own trails. After college, they volunteered at a meditation center in Colorado, then on a reservation in South Dakota, and then suddenly decided to move to Missoula, Montana for a year. So – although much more carefully planned – it wasn’t a huge surprise 12 months ago when Breanna and Steve put other work obligations aside to focus exclusively on crypto.

For those familiar with the crypto world, the Klebanoffs’ enterprise, Next Epoch, involves investing, advising and working on ventures in two related fields: Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and the unique digital collectibles knowns as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). One current project, PartyDAO, helps people come together as a group to buy NFTs. For the Klebanoffs, Next Epoch symbolizes the evolution in how society will interact and transact, empowering a new generation of creators and developers away from the traditional institutions of finance and art.

Even those unfamiliar with crypto know the explosive financial success many have achieved. But Breanna and Steve believe that their “success is a gift” that is important to share “with those who need it most.” So giving has become an important part of Next Epoch – the Klebanoffs are trying to lead by example, including publicly posting on Twitter to over 5,000 followers that they are donating $100,000 to non-profit causes important to them.

Those causes include climate change, civil liberties, and local causes. Breanna and Steve recently donated to the giv4 homelessness in san diego fund, an innovative way to support a collective of impactful local nonprofits addressing different aspects of this major challenge, created by JCF.

The Klebanoffs donated using the cryptocurrency fundamental to their success – Ethereum. Using JCF’s easy-to-use crypto donation page, fund holders can donate dozens of different assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum and even Dogecoin into a donor advised fund, potentially avoiding substantial capital gains and simultaneously generating significant tax deductions.