Ukraine Receives Over $15 Million In Cryptocurrency Donations Worldwide
Cryptocurrency experts believe that Ukraine has raised at least US$16.7 million in anonymous Bitcoin donations as the world responds to the country’s invasion by Russia.
Researchers at Elliptic, a blockchain analysis firm, reported that the Ukrainian government, not-for-profit organizations, and volunteer charities have raised the money by advertising their wallet addresses on social media.
“Whereas some crowdfunding and payments companies have refused to allow donations to be made to groups supporting the Ukrainian military, cryptocurrencies have emerged as a powerful alternative,” founder Tom Robinson told the BBC.
For example, organization Come Back Alive had its fundraising efforts halted by Patreon, which said it “does not allow any campaigns involved in violence or purchasing of military equipment,” as per CNBC.
Over 4,000 cryptocurrency donations have been received thus far, with one donor even donating a whopping US$3 million to a non-governmental organization.
The average donor has given US$95 each—a sizable sum to help the country’s defense efforts.
Ukraine’s official Twitter account chimed in over the weekend, saying it was “now accepting cryptocurrency donations” in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT.
It posted the address to two digital wallets—both raising US$5.4 million in just eight hours.
Additionally, US$1.86 million was donated via the sale of a non-fungible token that had originally been minted to fund WikiLeaks’ founder, Julian Assange.
In a related matter, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called on major cryptocurrency exchanges to block the addresses to wallets of Russian users.
“It’s crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users,” he tweeted.
Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) February 26, 2022
BTC - 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P
ETH and USDT (ERC-20) - 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14
I'm asking all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users.
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 27, 2022
It's crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.
[via BBC and CNBC, cover image via Denisismagilov | Dreamstime.com]
