Cryptocurrencies have played a pivotal part in the battle in Ukraine, assisting the government in raising millions of money to resist the Russian invasion.
Why has Ukraine resorted to cryptocurrencies, and how is the fledgling cryptocurrency business altering its image and making an impact amid the turmoil?
Ukrainian government released addresses for 2 crypto wallets on Twitter at the start of the crisis, offering supporters a direct and obvious address to which to make donations. Only four days following the invasion’s start, the wallets gathered more than $10.2 million ( approximately 9.2 million euros).
Ever since, more than $100 million worth of cryptocurrency has been donated, with Michael Chobanian, the owner of the Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange Kuna, responsible for 60% of all contributions.
Originally, two funds were established, one for humanitarian objectives and the other for military assistance in Ukraine. The funding was pooled and focused only on assisting the military once the fighting in Ukraine increased, according to Chobanian.
The bulk of crypto contributions, according to him, took the form of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether, a stablecoin tied one-to-one to the dollar.
What are the advantages of making a crypto donation?
The amount of fiat money provided to Ukraine by the US and the European Union dwarfs cryptocurrency contributions, while the latter allows people to participate. Crypto contributions are also valuable to Ukraine since they are unaffected by geopolitics or economic concerns. Inflation has caused the worth of the Ukrainian hryvnia to depreciate, according to Chobanian.
The rapidity of the transactions is an additional benefit of contributing in bitcoins. Validation of bank transfers between two countries might take up to 24 hours. Cryptocurrency transactions, on the other hand, are usually faster.
The use of crypto has been very good for Ukraine’s war effort, but it hasn’t always been easy. People who work in Ukraine’s digital transformation department wanted to make a symbolic gesture for the city of Kyiv by making their own crypto. The project was ultimately dropped. To make things even worse, people took advantage of the chance to make and sell fake copies of the government’s planned crypto.
