- According to a report by blockchain company Elliptic, Ukraine received $212.1 million worth of cryptocurrencies, much of it in stablecoins.
- Russia for its part raised just under $6 million.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a move few saw possible in this era. The government led by Vladimir Putin decided to attack its neighbor and today, just over a year after the start, it is not known for sure how long it will last. The world showed its support to the Ukrainians. The crypto space too.
A report made by the company specialized in blockchain, Elliptic, made it clear what was the position of the sector in the mentioned war conflict. At the same time, he also highlighted the importance of these for both the attacked and the attacking side. Russia, through the same route, has also reaped income.
Ukraine receives $212.1 million
The numbers mark that Ukraine received a staggering $212.1 million in cryptocurrency, much of it in stablecoins, from all over the planet. Russia, meanwhile, raised just under $6 million.
Two days after the war broke out, Ukraine used social networks to ask for funds. He posted a BTC address (357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P) and an Ethereum address, where he could receive both ETH and USDT (0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14).
Later, under pressure from the industry plus the promise of receiving $5 million from Gavin Wood, they also enabled Polkadot (1x8aa2N2Ar9SQweJv9vsuZn3WYDHu7gMQu1RePjZuBe33Hv).
Speed and without borders, advantages of crypto
Cryptocurrencies became one of the simplest and most productive avenues during this conflict. Their transfer speed plus their digitization made them a perfect combo when it comes to financing the factions. Within seconds/minutes, the donations became real. Fiat money cannot compete with these characteristics, for example.
The same was explained by the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs, Alex Bornyakov, according to the Bitcoinist medium.
The authority highlighted “the speed of cryptocurrency payments as a crucial factor in the country’s ability to respond to the conflict”. While adding that “receiving crypto donations accelerated the country’s ability to respond to the invasion, providing a much-needed boost to its military campaign”.
Although the conflict continues and there are no signs that it will end in the short term, it is no longer a central issue on the world’s media agendas and has lost visibility. This obviously had a negative impact on cryptocurrency donations. The records show that 80% of what was collected was during the first months of the combat.
Just as there are no certain numbers on casualties and wounded (each side has communicated its figures but these are not close to each other; United Nations verified 18,955 civilian deaths in Ukraine), the data on donations is also unclear.
The Chainalysis company also delivered its report one year after the outbreak of the war and reported that the Ukrainian government had received 70 million and not the 212 reported. Beyond the fact that the differences are large, it is clear that digital assets have played a determining role. It is expected, or so they believe in Ukraine, that if the war appears in the media again, donations will grow again .
The aforementioned channels are still standing and the transparency of the blockchain allows to see each of the movements. At the time of writing this article there were a total of 74,424 transactions and a balance of more than 25 ETH.
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