Since the start of the conflict with Russia in February 2022, Ukraine has raised more than $70 million in crypto donations. Remarkably, most of the donations came in the form of ethereum (ETH). In total, the country raised $ 28.9 million in ether, $ 22.8 million in bitcoin (BTC) and more than $ 11.6 million in Tether (USDT). This is evident from new data from Chainalysis:
The Ukrainian flag as NFT
Perhaps the most high-profile amount of money raised during the war was the $6.1 million for a non-fungible token (NFT) of the Ukrainian flag. It was eventually auctioned by UkraineDAO and so that immensely high amount was collected.
It remains to be seen whether the buyer is still happy with his decision to pay $ 6.1 million for it. Although it is probably a huge rich man who wanted to contribute to the conflict in this way. After all, if you want to make a profit, you invest in other things.
About 80 percent of the $70 million raised came in in the early months of the war. The longer a conflict lasts, the less attention is paid to it. In itself that is a logical development that we always see reflected everywhere in history.
The speed of crypto
If you ask the Ukrainian minister of digital affairs Alex Bornyakov, the speed of crypto is especially an advantage. “Had we used traditional financial systems, it could have taken days […] We managed to buy all kinds of crucial items with crypto in a short time. What I didn’t expect was that 60 percent of our suppliers accepted crypto.” said Bornyakov.
It seems that the donations to Ukraine also increased crypto adoption in the country. September published Chainalysis namely a research report, which showed that Ukraine is in third place in terms of adoption after Vietnam and the Philippines.
Incidentally, pro-Russian military groups have also used crypto to raise money for their acts of war. According to Chainalysis, they use that money to make military purchases, but also to spread disinformation and propaganda.
