As war rages on with Russia invading Ukraine on multiple fronts. Cryptocurrencies have been the choice of fundraising for global donors. $19 million has been sent to Ukraine as the country faces Russian aggression. The official Twitter handle of the Ukrainian government has said that they are accepting donations by means of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. The official two wallets mentioned receiving $5.4 million.
The flow of cryptocurrencies, in this time has the benefit of not getting affected. According to Elliptic, a crypto analytics firm, Crypto-assets such as Bitcoin have emerged as an important alternative crowdfunding method. They also allow quick, cross-border donations. In addition to the Ukrainian government seeking funds, many humanitarian collectives are also collecting funds via cryptocurrencies. This is to help those affected by the Russian onslaught. Ukraine DAO, Come Back Alive are among such drives. This is to raise funds to help alleviate the pains of the war-ravaged nation.
An Ethereum-based token Help Ukraine ($HUKR) has been launched to help a fundraising effort named Support Ukrainian Sovereignty. This is in turn is helping many humanitarians’ grounds. They said that the scammers also appear to be taking advantage of the current situation. This is by tricking unsuspecting users wishing to donate to Ukrainian causes. Elliptic has identified a number of fraudulent crypto fundraising scams which are exploiting the current situation. While Ukraine has benefitted from cryptocurrencies, they have sought a ban on servicing Russian interests by eight major cryptocurrency exchanges. They have written to exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Huobi, KuCoin, Bybit, Gate and Whitebit, and Kuna so that the international sanctions imposed on Russia are more effective.
