Ukraine Raises $25 Million in Crypto Donations & Still Counting

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Brexit Millionaire is changing, and probably empowering, the world in more ways than anticipated. With the Russia-Ukraine conflict deteriorating by the day, crypto seems to be proving the effect of its decentralized profile. Recently, the Ukrainian government made a request on social media to fund their fight against Russia through crypto. Until now, the country has received over $25 million in crypto donations. 

Request for Crypto Donations on Twitter

The Ukrainian Government released a series of tweets on the micro-blogging website, Twitter. This included listing addresses of online wallets for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. Since the request, the country and a non-profit organization received over $25 million worth of coins into its account. The non-profit is supporting the country and its military.

Over the weekend, the Ukrainian government’s Twitter account made an official announcement seeking donations in the form of digital currencies. This was followed by a series of tweets that asked for donations in a wide range of crypto coins, including Polkadot. Around $17 million was received by the government and the rest by the Ukrainian NGO named Come Back Alive. 

Cryptocurrency in the Russian-Ukraine Conflict

The conflict has given the world a new perspective on the crypto market. Many lawmakers in the West have expressed their concerns about the digital coins being used by the Russian government and businesses to evade the sanctions. On the other hand, crypto has provided investors and concerned global citizens to fund Ukraine’s defense against its neighbour. This funding spree has proven to be a success compared to the traditional crowdfunding methods facing certain obstacles.

Recently, Patreon, the well-known crowdfunding website, blocked a page managed by Come Back Alive. The reason provided by Patreon was that the page somehow violated its rules related to funding military-based activities. The NGO then had to switch over to funding its mission with the help of cryptocurrency. 

What is UkraineDAO?

When Patreon disabled Come Back Alive’s crowdfunding page on its platform, the non-profit found a new funding source in the form of a crypto collective known as UkraineDAO. The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) has been created by crypto enthusiasts as part of the Russian protest band called Pussy Riot. The band alone has claimed to raise over $4 million in crypto for the NGO.

The non-profit claimed that it will be spending the funds on providing medical support to the victims of the conflict and not on arming the country’s soldiers.It also agreed that blockchain technology has allowed it to scale its efforts in ways that couldn’t have been possible in the past. The traditional methods of raising money have been known to be slow and cumbersome.

According to sources, Come Back Alive has been able to raise over $7 million in crypto until Monday. While the amount of donations is minuscule compared to the scale of the conflict and Ukraine’s defense budget, they do imply the importance of blockchain and crypto technology in this era. Ukraine has a defense budget of around$4 billion while Russia spends almost 10 times that amount.

The Crypto Donations

The ledger records show that the largest donation came from a blockchain tech company, Chain.com’s CEO Deepak Thapliyal. He donated 100 Ethers worth over a quarter of a million dollars. Ukrainian volunteer and non-profit groups have a history of accepting Bitcoin. Come Back Alive has been active since 2018. 

Initially, many believed that the tweet by the government was nothing more than the work of some hackers. Even Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin was skeptical of the tweet from the official account of the Ukrainian government. Buterin confirmed the government’s official request from the country’s vice prime minister.

Ukraine already has the regulations supporting its handling of crypto donations. The country passed legislation this fall legalizing and regulating Bitcoin and other types of cryptos. This made the Eastern European nation aspiring to become part of the EUone of the very few countries that have embraced crypto and blockchain technologies so far. The nation’s vast pool of technology talent and low taxes have made it the perfect crypto hub.As the conflict rages on, it is expected that it will be gaining more crypto funding from all over the world.