Ukraine Raises $10 Million in Crypto Donations: European Country Accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT

February 28, 2022 Editor Ethereum 0

Ukraine recently raised more than $10 million in cryptocurrency to help support its military and its citizens.

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

The Ukrainian government posted three crypto wallet addresses for people willing to donate cryptos to the country on Feb. 26. According to the Ukrainian government’s tweet, they accept donations in Bitcoin and Ethereum, per Cointelegraph.

The advertised wallets would later receive $5.4 million in Bitcoin, Ether, and other coin donations within eight hours, according to BBC.

Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov supplemented the Ukrainian Government’s tweet with one of his. In his tweet, the Vice Prime Minister Fedorov people to “Stand with the people of Ukraine” while another crypto wallet address for USDT, a token tracking the value of the U.S. dollar, was shared to the public, according to CNBC.

Both of the tweets did not specify how the donations would be used, sparking concerns that scammers are trying to take advantage of the situation by tricking donors into giving them money rather than to Ukraine.

However, American diplomat Tomicah Tilleman and Bitcoin Magazine co-founder Vitality Dmitriyevich Buterin confirmed that the crypto wallet address is indeed real, but warned people to be always on alert and to be slow and careful when sending irreversible crypto transactions.

Unconfirmed reports seem to indicate that the addresses shared by the Ukrainian government will be used directly by the government.

NFTS to the Rescue

The sale of non-fungible tokens or NFTs have also become a crucial part of the donations that have gone to Ukraine.

Elliptic reports that $1.86 million seems to have come from an NFT sale supposed to help fund Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s legal defense for 18 criminal charges, including breaking a spying law, according to The Guardian.

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NFTs were also reported to have been donated to the Ukrainian government’s Ethereum account. One such NFT, Goat Soup #1189, has a value of approximately $300 at the time of Elliptic’s report.  

 A decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) going by the name of UkraineDAO recently announced in a Twitter post it was selling an NFT of the Ukrainian flag to fund Ukrainian civilian organizations who are out helping the country’s citizens.

The DAO was led by Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a conceptual artist, political activist and member of the anarchist feminist group Pussy Riot, per Cointelegraph’s report.

Crypto Donations are (Arguably) Better

Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s chief scientist, wrote in a blog post saying that crypto assets like Bitcoin have emerged as an “important alternative crowdfunding method”. This success is because they allow quick cross-border donations that bypass financial institutions that might be blocking payments to groups helping Ukraine.

Robinson’s statement is proven true by a few Twitter users, especially by ARTYOM FEDOSOV, whose tweet says that while his Ukrainian credit cards are no longer working, his cryptos are still active.

Twitter user @tymo_tt also advocated the use of cryptos as donations, saying that they are quick, cheap, and secure.

Patreon Suspends Come Back Alive’s Page

Patreon, the popular crowdfunding website, has suspended Come Back Alive’s Patreon page as it “does not allow any campaigns involved in violence or purchasing of military equipment regardless of their cause,” according to a company spokesperson as reported by a CNBC article.

Come Back Alive is a nonprofit organization that provides equipment for the Ukrainian army and has since received high amounts of funding to support the Ukrainian military.

Patreon has removed Come Back Alive’s Patreon page and will be refunding any funds given to the organization after Feb. 1, according to the website’s blog post. However, the company behind the website listed several charities that could benefit from donors’ donations.

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