For the last two weeks or so, people across the globe have seen pictures and videos of Ukrainian civilians taking up guns alongside armed personnel to defend their country against Russia’s savage assault. Ukraine, on the other hand, is battling Russia on a second front, away from the cameras, in cyberspace.
With Ukraine getting bitcoin and other coins in milliseconds as the fight gathered momentum, the country utilized the funds from crypto donors all around the world to “fight back” against the Russian aggression, according to a government source.
In Ukraine, Crypto Helped In Buying Supplies
According to Ukraine’s digital transformation minister, Alex Bornyakov, bitcoin donations have allowed the country to acquire much-needed military supplies and protective gear.
According to Bornyakov, the funds have also been accessible in a more smooth and timely way, allowing for the early and successful fulfilment of the criteria. Bornyakov stated on Monday during a Twitter Space discussion: “One of the ways we fought back was through crypto.”
The country’s plea for bitcoin donations, he claims, was predicated on the notion that digital assets would help in a faster response. “With crypto, we can execute such transactions in five minutes, ten minutes, and you don’t have to go through banks for permission,” he explained.
Ukraine began accepting cryptocurrency contributions on February 26, only two days after Russia invaded the country. It appealed on Twitter for help with bitcoin, Ethereum, and tether wallet addresses, and has since added additional digital currencies.
The minister went on to describe how the government spent the millions it had received, claiming that foreign funding had supported Ukraine’s military in its daily operations.
He said, “So far, we’ve bought 400,000 military-grade meals for our troops, which they really need.” Thousands of bulletproof vests and other types of protection were also purchased, which aided our forces in their day-to-day operations.”
Donations Have Breached $60 million
Ukraine and a significant NGO in the country had collected $59.7 million in crypto contributions by March 8, 2022, according to Elliptic, a blockchain analytics business.
The contributions were received in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Polkadot (POLK), with a $5.8 million gift from Polkadot creator Gavin Wood topping the list last week (DOT). Stablecoins in the US dollar, as well as other cryptocurrencies, have made major contributions to the money.
Elliptic said that ETH accounted for 33.7 per cent of all donations as of Tuesday, March 8th. BTC contributions accounted for around 31.2 per cent of the total, while USD Stablecoins accounted for approximately 17.0 per cent. Other crypto assets amounted to 3.6 per cent of the total, whereas DOT contributions were 14.5 per cent.
All three cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, FTX and Currency.com, have contributed to the donations. On March 4, Currency.com announced that it has donated $1 million.
Cryptocurrency prices have plunged owing to concerns about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the value of cryptos decreased marginally over the previous week. Bitcoin and Ethereum have lost 11.86 per cent and 13.75 per cent, respectively, in the previous seven days, according to TradingView statistics, while altcoins have lost even more.
Vitalik Buterin, the Ethereum co-founder, was also present at the Twitter Space. Prior to the invasion, he and Bornyakov discussed Ukraine’s role in manufacturing digital money and how many people are ignorant of the country’s engagement in crypto efforts.
In Chainalysis’ worldwide crypto adoption ranking for 2021, Ukraine came in fourth, and the government legalized cryptocurrencies in September.
