The people of Ukraine need help from the world more than ever. As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to rage, the world must join the Ukrainian government in bringing peace and stability back to the Eastern European nation.
The crypto community has done just that, with non-fungible token (NFT) companies, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and crypto users from around the world leading the effort to help Ukraine with donations of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether ( ETH), Polkadot’s DOT and even NFT.
It is impressive how quickly the cryptocurrency community has supported the Ukrainian people. Two days after the Russian military entered Ukrainian territory, the Ukrainian government asked for cryptocurrency donations on Twitter, sharing Bitcoin and Ethereum wallet addresses. Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed on his Twitter account that the request for donations was real and asked people to support the nation.
Stand with the people of Ukraine
Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Ethereum. Bitcoin and Tether (USDTtrc20)BTC — 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P
ETH—0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14
USDT (trc20) — TEFccmfQ38cZS1DTZVhsxKVDckA8Y6VfCy
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022
Cryptocurrency community rushes to Ukraine’s defense
Shortly after Ukraine’s deputy prime minister tweeted the government’s cryptocurrency addresses, they began entering Ukrainian government wallets at an unprecedented rate. In fact, Ukraine ranks fourth in the Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, compiled by data firm Chainalysis, which estimates that about $8 billion worth of cryptocurrencies enter and leave the country each year. According to the New York Times, the daily volume of cryptocurrency transactions is around 150 million dollars, surpassing the volume of interbank exchanges in hryvnia.
First, the Ukrainian government raised $4 million, then $13 million, and then $37 million in March. Days later, the total amount of crypto the Ukrainian government collected was over $55 million. And just recently, the Ukrainian government announced that it had received a total of “close to $100 million” in cryptocurrency donations, according to Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister in the ministry of digital transformation and the government’s de facto crypto spokesman. . Ukraine hit $108 million a week ago, according to Cointelegraph tracking.
This is a clear testament that the cryptocurrency community is doing exactly what it has been trying to do since day one: moving capital effortlessly, smoothly, and cheaply, without intermediaries, as its users believe is the right thing to do. . The crypto community around the world has shown, with their massive donations, that they support peace, stability and, to be frank, the people of Ukraine.
From an economic point of view, the millions of dollars sent to the Ukrainian government could be the turning point. It is a clear demonstration that the people support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The ability of cryptocurrencies to cut red tape is one of the best ways to provide an immediate service to the Ukrainian people, who need help more than ever. This is what Bitcoin was created for: to move capital to where it is needed without any hindrance.
NFTs, DAOs and Web3 communities come to the rescue
NFT platforms, DAOs, and other players in the development of Web3 have shown the world what they stand for by donating everything from cryptocurrencies to NFTs to the Ukrainian government.
The people behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) donated $1 million in ETH to the Ukrainian government. The BAYC team donated the matching funds to members of the BAYC community, who also raised nearly $1 million in donations for Ukraine. Additionally, Everstake, a Ukraine-based decentralized staking provider, sent the first tranche of financial aid to Ukraine worth $1 million, which had been donated by the extensive Solana community.
It’s been inspiring seeing our community come together in support of Ukraine – almost USD 1m in ETH has been donated to @Ukraine by wallets containing a BAYC ecosystem NFT. Today we’re matching that with a USD 1m ETH donation of our own. ♥️
— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) March 8, 2022
There are countless examples of NFTs and DAOs rushing behind the Ukrainian government’s request, from someone transferring CryptoPunk #5364, worth over $200,000, to Ukraine’s Ethereum wallet to UkraineDAO raising over $200,000. 6 million through a sale of NFTs to help Ukrainian citizens. The DAOs and NFT companies have made their position clear: they are against the war and want the Russian invasion to end as soon as possible.
Cryptocurrencies: The Future of Supporting Causes?
During this tragic situation in Europe, we have seen that blockchain allows us to scale our efforts in a way that was simply not possible before. The old ways of raising money were slow, expensive, and often riddled with fraud and corruption.
This form of borderless money has transformed the way people give money to the causes they want to support. With Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, donors can be 100% sure that causes and campaigns will receive the funds. They simply need the wallet address and send the crypto to that address. They can go to the blockchain, such as Etherscan, and see their donation – providing peace of mind to all donors that their capital has reached the recipient.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have proven that they are the cheapest, fastest and safest way to carry out financial transactions around the world. The Ukrainian government can safely store cryptocurrency without worrying about it being stolen by an invading force or its financial system collapsing because of the war. Let’s be clear: for Ukraine, digital currencies have lived up to their reputation for facilitating the movement of money across international borders.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, readers should do their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Raymond Hsu is the co-founder and CEO of Cabital, a cryptocurrency wealth management platform. Prior to co-founding Cabital in 2020, Raymond worked for traditional banking and fintech institutions including Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, eBay, and Airwallex.
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