Ukraine has received “near to $100 million” in cryptocurrency donations during its current war with Russia, according to Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister for Digital Transformation. Ukraine has revealed how cryptocurrency donations are being used to bolster its resistance against Russia’s invasion have been spent.
Ukraine has revealed how cryptocurrency donations are being used
In a tweet posted on Friday, Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister in the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the government’s de facto crypto spokesperson, revealed the information.
“Crypto-assets proved extremely helpful in facilitation of funding flows to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Huge thanks to everyone who donated to the Crypto Fund of Ukraine,” Alex Bornyakov tweeted.
Crypto assets proved extremely helpful in facilitation of funding flows to the Amed Forces of Ukraine. Huge thanks to everyone who donated to the Crypto Fund of Ukraine.
Each and every helmet and vest bought via crypto donations is currently saving Ukrainian soilders’ lives. pic.twitter.com/CghDmXEcJG
— Alex Bornyakov (@abornyakov) March 11, 2022
“Each and every helmet and vest purchased with crypto donations is presently saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers,” he added.
The Ministry began fundraising through cryptocurrencies on February 26. Using cryptocurrency donations, Ukraine has purchased 5,500 bulletproof jackets, 410,000 packed lunches, 500 ballistic plates for bulletproof vests, 3,125 thermal imagers and optics, 500 helmets, 3,427 medicines, and 60 walkie-talkies since March 1.
Earlier Bornyakov had told that some of Ukraine’s arms vendors allow direct cryptocurrency payments, but that due to national security reasons, he couldn’t specify what military equipment was being purchased.
While crypto donations to Ukraine may not play a “huge role” in the country’s overall economy, the Deputy Minister stressed that they are “essential in the current war.” According to Elliptic, a blockchain analytics tool, Ukraine has received about $60 million in cryptocurrency donations.
Bornyakov, on the other hand, said the total amount of Bitcoin supplied was “around $100 million” on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian government accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, Polkadot, and Dogecoin. Other nonprofits and philanthropic organizations, such as Come Back Alive, Ukraine DAO, Endaoment, and the Kyiv Independent, an English-language Ukrainian newspaper that has been reporting on the crisis on its Twitter feed, are accepting cryptocurrency donations directly.
As a result of Russia’s threat to Ukraine’s banking system, the government has turned to Bitcoin as a decentralized means of obtaining financial aid. Using standard banking in a wartime setting is complicated by the dread of being watched.
Crypto donations to support Ukraine
Kraken just announced that Ukrainian users who registered before March 9th will receive $1,000 in bitcoin. Kraken will also give away $1,000 in Kraken Fee Credits for no-cost conversions, allowing citizens to withdraw cryptocurrencies right away.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, is also extending support to Ukraine. The Binance Charity Foundation donated $2.5 million in bitcoin to Unicef to help children and their families, while the platform pledged $10 million to Ukraine’s inhabitants.
Polkadot’s founder, Gavin Wood, just contributed $5 million in DOT to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian military aggression. The founder pledged to provide the funds if Ukraine gave a public DOT address, which it has recently done.
On February 26th, Ukraine sent out a tweet asking for support via crypto donations from the international community following Russia’s invasion of the country.
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