Ukraine cryptocurrency donations are the finance hope in war. 

Ukraine cryptocurrency donations are the finance hope in war. 

Cryptocurrency
March 1, 2022 by Diana Ambolis
1509
$12 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT were given to Ukraine’s cryptocurrency collection in just two days. Usually, countries use taxes or bond sales to fund military campaigns during the conflict. However, while Ukraine continues to defend itself against a Russian invasion, Ukraine cryptocurrency has bolstered its war chest with millions of dollars in bitcoin
Ukraine cryptocurrency donations are the finance hope in war. 

$12 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT were given to Ukraine’s cryptocurrency collection in just two days.

Usually, countries use taxes or bond sales to fund military campaigns during the conflict. However, while Ukraine continues to defend itself against a Russian invasion, Ukraine cryptocurrency has bolstered its war chest with millions of dollars in bitcoin donations, which were crowdfunded in two days by strangers replying to a post from the country’s official Twitter.

On Saturday, Ukraine’s official Twitter account announced that the country was “now taking cryptocurrency donations,” along with a call for people to “stand with Ukraine” and links to two bitcoin wallets. According to the tweet, Ukraine is taking donations in Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT—the latter being a so-called stablecoin tethered to the US dollar.

According to analytics firm Elliptic, Ukraine’s two official crypto wallets had received over $12 million in donations by Sunday, with one of the single greatest gifts costing $1.86 million. This substantial donation came from a group that had acquired funds through a non-fungible token auction (NFTs). The sale, which took place just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, was originally intended to earn funds to cover WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s legal bills.

Read, also – Bitcoin donations are increasing as the Russia-Ukraine war proceeds

Like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, some observers were suspicious of Ukraine’s post asking funds at first, speculating that hostile hackers had taken over Ukraine’s Twitter account. Others, including a former US diplomat, have since verified the tweet’s authenticity.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that Ukraine would welcome cryptocurrency donations. Only days before Russia invaded, the government formally authorized bitcoin. The Eastern European country now performs more daily cross-border transactions in cryptocurrency than its fiat currency, the hryvnia.

The government isn’t the only entity in Ukraine using crypto crowdfunding to raise revenue. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities have also requested donations from cryptocurrency holders. After the subscription payment provider, Patreon blocked the group’s account, Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO soliciting funds for the Ukrainian military, turned to crowdfund crypto donations last week.

The NGO, which earned $400,000 through Patreon, allegedly broke the platform’s terms of service, banning fundraising for military assistance. Elliptic claims that the group has now received “several million dollars” in cryptocurrency donations.

Since the Russian invasion began on February 24, Elliptic claims that the Ukrainian government and NGOs offering support to the Ukrainian military had raised a total of $18.9 million in cryptocurrencies.