As word of the conflict in Ukraine spread across the airwaves and on social media, a group of crypto activists and aficionados banded together to show their support. What is their strategy? An NFT displaying the Ukrainian flag is being auctioned.
Ukrainian flag NFT sold
Ukraine DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, raised 2,258 ETH (about $6.75 million) in an auction that ran from February 26 to March 2. (After a market correction, the sum is now worth about $6.4 million.)
🇺🇦 2250 ETH / $6.75M USD CONTRIBUTED TO THE UKRAINIAN FLAG NFT 🇺🇦
Thank you to all who supported our project 🙏
Next steps: POAP for all those who donated to partybid, work with Come Back Alive on safely transferring funds
You may still donate ETH directly to ukrainedao.eth pic.twitter.com/GsQBLzHIVK
— UkraineDAO (@Ukraine_DAO) March 2, 2022
Ukraine DAO was founded last month by Alona Shevchenko, a Ukrainian activist living in England. Shevchenko says Ukraine DAO came together after she met members of PleasrDAO, a digital artist collective, and Nadya Tolokonnikova, the founder of Pussy Riot, a conceptual protest art group.
The use of the Ukrainian flag, according to Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, is about solidarity.
“I was pressing for the Ukrainian flag to be used,” she told Decrypt last week. “Because it’s a genuine act of solidarity, it’s not about any certain artists or aesthetics.”
According to blockchain tracker Etherscan, contributions to Ukraine DAO have come from unexpected sources, including the pornographic website OnlyFans, which on February 27 transferred 500 ETH from its only.eth address (about $1.41 million) to Ukraine DAO. According to the organization, everyone who donates will receive a “POAP”—an NFT that represents a significant life event.
🚨 500 ETH Contribution from @onlyfans / only.eth 🚨
There is now 1221 ETH in the bidding pool, triggering the auction countdown after the 1000 ETH reserve has been methttps://t.co/RlXuJpNjQ6
— UkraineDAO (@Ukraine_DAO) February 27, 2022
“This is exactly what DAOs are for,” Shevchenko previously told Decrypt. “Making change offline in the real world while harnessing the power of blockchain.”
As of March 2, approximately $54.7 million in cryptocurrencies from over 102,000 donations had gone to the Ukrainian government and NGOs giving military support, according to statistics from analytics website Elliptic.
Polkadot founder Gavin Wood has donated $5.8 million to Ukraine, as well as a CryptoPunk NFT worth over $200,000.Wood contributed $5.8 million in Polkadot tokens to Ukraine on Tuesday as a thank you for accepting Polkadot, making it one of the largest single crypto donations to the country. Dogecoin’s adoption by the government has tapped into yet another close-knit crypto community.
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