Polkadot and VeChain developers have also contributed an additional $13 million.
The amount of tracked crypto donations delivered to the Ukrainian government, military, and charities had topped $37 million at the time of publication. Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), and other cryptocurrencies are among them. The figures are also based on initiatives that have been tracked and do not take into consideration things like individual donation efforts.
The “Reserve fund of Ukraine,” which is backed by the country’s native cryptocurrency exchange, Kuna, appears to be the top beneficiary of crypto donations. According to the exchange’s official Telegram channel, it has raised over $13 million in crypto for Ukraine, primarily through BTC, ETH, and USDT.
Next, Come Back Alive, a non-profit that claims to be assisting the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their resistance activities, has received over $7.2 million in Bitcoin donations to their wallet address. This includes money it received previously, albeit insignificantly, during the Donbas War, which began in 2014. Ukrainian crypto aficionados who confirmed the charity’s validity.
Then there’s UkraineDAO, which is managed by Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot (a Russian female protest music band) and aims to sell a single nonfungible token, or NFT, flag to raise funds for Ukrainian civilian organisations. The highest bid for the NFT is currently $2.89 million USD.
In addition, advocates in the blockchain community have established the Unchain Fund to aid Ukraine. NEAR, Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), and other altcoins are supported by the programme. Since its inception, the fund has raised almost $1.5 million in cryptocurrency, the majority of which has come via NEAR token donations. Anna Tutova, a member of Unchain Fund and a well-known cryptocurrency socialite:
“Medicine, evacuation and repair costs, food, and clothing are among the items for which we raise funds. To be entirely honest, we only raise funds in cryptocurrency and employ multi-sig wallets. Vitalik Buterin, Solana, Near, Celo foundation, Harmony, Polygon, Gnosis, Gitcoin, and many others all support the Unchain fund.”
Braiins, the world’s oldest mining pool, donated 10 BTC plus a share of its hash power to support Ukraine, among other notable actions. RELI3F, a Web 3.0 humanitarian aid effort, has also given 185 ETH to three cryptocurrency funds assisting Ukraine.
Crypto fans, on the other hand, are urging the Ukrainian government to accept donations in cryptocurrencies other than BTC, ETH, and USDT. Sunny Lu, Vechain’s co-founder and CEO, tweeted on Monday:
Setup a VET wallet and leave VET address, I’ll donate $8m. Nothing else matters comparing people’s life.
— Sunny LU, VeChain Ⓥ (@sunshinelu24) February 28, 2022
Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum and creator of Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama, wrote around the same time:
If you post a DOT address I'll personally contribute $5m.
— Gavin Wood (@gavofyork) February 27, 2022
Despite the fact that crypto fundraising efforts for Ukraine have gained a lot of popularity, people have taken to social media to caution one other to be cautious, to double-check the legitimacy of contribution links, and to be wary of scammers. In one case, a suspected con artist has been commenting on every post, claiming to be posting the official crypto address in exchange for assisting the Ukrainian government.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
