Ukraine has received $28.9 million in Ether, $22.8 million in Bitcoin, and $11.6 million in Tether since Russia invaded a year ago. Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict began, Ukraine has received almost $70 million in cryptocurrency for military and humanitarian aid.
ETH donors contributed $28.9 million, Bitcoin donors $22.8 million, and Tether donors $11.6 million.UkraineDAO auctioned a Ukrainian flag NFT for $6.1 million, a nonfungible token donation.With cryptocurrency payments fast, 80% of the $70 million given arrived in the first few months of the fight.
On Feb. 24, Ukrainian deputy digital minister Alex Bornyakov told Yahoo Finance:
The conventional finance system would take days […] We purchased necessary things quickly using bitcoin, and I was surprised that 60% of providers accepted crypto.
Bornyakov called the Crypto Fund Help For Ukraine a “amazing success” and was impressed by the volume of donations and how easily the digital ministry could access them for Ukraine’s defense.
Alona Shevchenko, co-founder of Ukraine DAO, told Yahoo Finance, “The central bank set constraints on foreign currency transactions in and out of Ukraine to quell the run on the hryvnia […] Cryptocurrencies provided a solution.” Crypto was the only method to meet certain of our defenders’ immediate needs.”
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, tweeted in August that cryptocurrency payments to the digital ministry have funded military equipment, armor clothes, trucks, and medication.
A September Chainanalysis report found Ukrainians to be the third-highest adopters, behind Vietnam and the Philippines, due to their rising reliance on cryptocurrencies.
Chainalysis reports that pro-Russian military groups have used bitcoin to crowdfund their war activities, including weapons purchases, disinformation, and pro-invasion propaganda.
Over the conflict, the 100 groups earned $5.4 million, but donations have dropped since July.
On Feb. 24, Russia was hit with a 10th round of sanctions.
Chainalysis reported that “actors” headquartered in Russia stole most of the $456.8 million in ransomware payments in 2022.Chainalysis highlighted that criminal actors often use such assaults for political purposes, such Russia-based pro-conflict ransomware outfit Conti, which collected $66 million from victims in 2022 and has stated its “complete support” of the Russian government.
