On Thursday, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on multiple fronts, prompting a swift response from the Ukrainian government, which mobilized troops and armed civilians and called on world leaders to come to its aid.
On the same day, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense began accepting donations for its armed forces by creating a designated bank account for foreign currency transfers. The Ukrainian military cited “numerous requests from natural and legal persons who do not reside in Ukraine and wish to make donations.” Apparently, a specific part of the memo caught the attention of social media users:
“The national legislation does not allow the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to use other payment systems (“Webmoney”, “Bitcoin”, “PayPal”, etc.)”
It didn’t take long for crypto enthusiasts to flock to the Ukrainian government’s Twitter account, where the link was posted, asking for digital currency donations to be accepted. For example, the user TechLeakers wrote: “Get a Bitcoin cryptocurrency address. That way it will be accepted all over the world.” However, some also raised concerns about the possibility of the Ukrainian Armed Forces accepting crypto donations, with MMusikwolf writing:
“Don’t donate crypto. The value fluctuates too much for it to be useful in this regard. The money [fiat] It has the highest liquidity of all assets and therefore can be used more quickly.”
But others, like BiggieWhale, don’t. they took in pointing out that stablecoins, such as USDT, are pegged to the US dollar and thus theoretically do not suffer from the same degree of price volatility. At least one Ukrainian non-governmental organization, Come Back Alive, currently accepts donations in BTC, the proceeds of which go to the Ukrainian military.
crypto donations could be helpful: its really easy, fast, cheap and secure
also consider this method— Timo (@tymo_tt) February 24, 2022
Due to Russia’s military advance, global asset and currency prices, including the value of Bitcoin (BTC) and the Ukrainian krona, are currently experiencing sharp declines.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried commented on the currency destabilization in Eastern Europe due to the invasion. In a lengthy Twitter thread, Bankman-Fried wrote: “If you were in Ukraine right now, where would you trust your money?” He also said, “And more importantly, there could be a war. That’s really bad for the world. Fuck this whole price thing. Go out there and do something nice for somebody.”
According to the Ukrainian government, 40 people have been killed in the first hours of the Russian invasion, with several dozen injured. In addition to targeting Ukrainian military installations, Russian missiles have reportedly hit critical infrastructure such as airports and civilian establishments.
Footage of the airport bombing in Ivano-Frankivsk. #ukraine #russia pic.twitter.com/MLVuNyPItI
— Ω (@W4RW4ATCHER) February 24, 2022
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