Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine last week, cryptocurrency donations for Ukraine witnessed an astronomical support raising more than $14.2 million in digital asset donations.
After weeks of escalating tension between the two former Soviet states, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine a few days ago. Since then, massive explosions have rocked the south of Kyiv with Russian forces storming into Kharkiv after blowing up a gas pipeline in the city. Amidst the turmoil, the The Ukrainian government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) began asking for cryptocurrency donations.
Government Asking For Crypto Donation
The Ukrainian government had urged for crypto donations in a tweet through its official Twitter account, asking for help in the form of Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT. The tweet stated,
“Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.”
On February 26, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, shared details of the crypto wallets on Twitter. Many questioned the validity of these wallets, including Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin. However, he deleted his his tweet later. Additionally, Victor Zhora, one of Ukraine’s top cyber-defense officials, confirmed that the tweets and the wallet addresses were legitimate.
Crypto Donations Pour In Millions
According to leading blockchain analytics firm, Elliptic, the Ukrainian government, NGOs, and volunteer groups have received nearly $14 million worth of cryptocurrencies in the past several days. Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, also jumped on board and said he was “glad to announce” a donation worth $200,000 in Tether.
This included a single donation worth $1.86 million that was supposedly originated from the sale of NFTs originally intended to raise funds for Julian Assange. Moreover, several million dollars in crypto donations were received by a Ukrainian NGO Come Back Alive, that supported the military. Elliptic founder, Tom Robinson, remarked,
“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.”
The Elliptic research suggested that almost, 54.8 per cent of the donations received by the Ukrainian government and NGOs, were in Bitcoin while 33.4 per cent were Ethereum, 10.8 per cent stablecoins, and 1 per cent other. Separately, an Ethereum-based token project called Help Ukraine (HUKR) was created on Thursday. The project has been donating Ethereum to a fundraiser called Support Ukrainian Sovereignty, which in turn has pledged to donate funds among various Ukrainian charities such as Support Ukrainian Sovereignty that claimed to have raised $281,769.
