Every Bit of Bitcoin Helps: Crypto for Ukraine Relief Aid?

The people of Ukraine need the world's help more than ever. As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, the world must come together to support the Ukrainian government and restore peace and stability to this Eastern European country.

The crypto community has already done just that, with Non-Fungible Token (NFT) companies, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and crypto users around the world taking the lead in helping Ukraine with donations of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT) and even NFT.

It is impressive how quickly the crypto community has supported the people of Ukraine. Two days after Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory, the Ukrainian government asked for cryptocurrency donations on Twitter, sharing bitcoin and ethereum wallet addresses. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed on his Twitter account that the call for donations was genuine and called on people to stand with the country.

Crypto Community Flocks to Support Ukraine’s Defense

Shortly after Ukraine’s deputy prime minister tweeted the government’s crypto wallet address, cryptocurrencies began entering Ukrainian government wallets at an unprecedented rate. In fact, Ukraine ranks fourth in the Global Crypto Adoption Index compiled by data firm Chainalysis, which estimates that approximately $8 billion in cryptocurrencies are moved into and out of the country every year. According to the New York Times, the daily cryptocurrency transaction volume is about $150 million, more than the hryvnia is traded between banks.

First, the Ukrainian government raised $4 million, then $13 million, and by March of this year a further $37 million. A few days later, the total amount of cryptocurrencies raised by the Ukrainian government exceeded $55 million. Just recently, the Ukrainian government announced that it had received cryptocurrency donations totaling “nearly $100 million,” said Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister of digital transformation and the government’s de facto crypto spokesman. Ukraine received $108 million in cryptocurrencies a week ago, as tracked by Cointelegraph.

This is clear evidence that the crypto community is doing what they've been doing since day one - moving capital easily, seamlessly and cheaply without any middlemen, because users think that's the right thing to do. The global crypto community has shown through its large donations that it supports peace and stability and, quite frankly, the people of Ukraine.

From an economic point of view, the millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies sent to the Ukrainian government could be a breakthrough. Clearly, people are on the sidelines for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The ability of cryptocurrencies to cut through bureaucratic red tape is one of the best ways to provide instant service to the people of Ukraine as they need help more than ever. This is what Bitcoin was born for - to move money where it's needed without any hindrance.

NFT, DAO and Web3 communities come to support

NFT platforms, DAOs, and other players of Web3 showed the world where they stand by donating everything from cryptocurrencies to NFTs to the Ukrainian government.

The team behind the Boring Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has donated $1 million in ETH to the Ukrainian government. Funds donated by the BAYC team were matched with BAYC community members who also raised nearly $1 million in donations for Ukraine. Additionally, Ukraine-based decentralized equity provider Everstake provided Ukraine with its first $1 million in financial aid donated by the extended Solana community.

There are countless examples of how NFTs and DAOs quickly responded to requests from the Ukrainian government, from someone transferring over $200,000 worth of CryptoPunk #5364 to a Ukrainian Ethereum wallet, to UkraineDAO raising over $6 million by selling NFTs dollars to help Ukrainian citizens. The DAO and NFT companies have made their position clear - they are against the war and want to see the Russian invasion end as soon as possible.

Cryptocurrencies: The Future of Giving?

In this tragedy in Europe, we see that blockchain allows us to scale up our efforts in a way that was simply not possible before. The old way of financing was slow, expensive and, in many cases, rife with fraud and corruption.

This borderless form of currency has changed the way people donate to the causes they want to support. With Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, donors can be 100% certain that charities and events will receive funds. They just need the address of the wallet and send the password to this address. They can go to a blockchain, such as Etherscan, and see their donations - giving all donors peace of mind that their funds have gone to the recipient without a hitch.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have proven that they are the cheapest, fastest and safest way to conduct financial transactions around the world. The Ukrainian government can safely store cryptocurrencies without worrying about invading forces stealing from them or their financial system collapsing due to war. Let’s be clear: for Ukraine, digital currencies really live up to their name in terms of their ease of moving money across international borders.

Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness.