As civilians in Ukraine take up arms and build Molotov cocktails, crypto-donations are streaming in from supporters all over the world to help military and relief efforts. With the struggle becoming both physical and cyber, it’s time to take a look at the action on the blockchain.
Friends in need. . .
Ukraine’s official Twitter account – previously known for its scenic photos of the country and historical anecdotes – recently shared addresses for accepting Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT donations. As one of the top five countries in the 2021 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, this was no surprise.
However, the response has been both complex and overwhelming.
Looking at the Bitcoin blockchain data for the linked address, we can see that over 33 BTC or approximately $1.3 million has been sent to the address. During this time, the address sent seven BTC.
Additionally, Etherscan shows that the second address has received around 1,636 Ether or roughly $4.4 million in donations.
However, it is important to keep in mind that these are not the only organizations and sources soliciting donations.
Furthermore, others like Tron founder Justin Sun have also sent funds. For his part, Sun donated $200,000 USDT on the Tron blockchain.
In fact, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin also promoted UkraineDAO – a project to “sell” the country’s now famous blue and yellow flag to raise funds for civil efforts.
Crypto-donations are more than a publicity stunt in the Russia-Ukraine war. After the National Bank of Ukraine’s suspension of e-money transfers, some have claimed they have no choice but to turn to crypto.
A gas company?
One thing to question here is Ethereum’s popularity as a means of fundraising – despite its exorbitant gas costs. ConstitutionDAO and AssangeDAO faced challenges due to the same when collecting donations. It remains to be seen how UkraineDAO will minimize the loss of funds due to gas fees.
Meanwhile, an NFT collection on OpenSea aimed at raising funds for Ukraine may have led to gas fees rising to over 1,300 gwei on Ethereum. While praised for raising money, the group – RELI3F UKR – was also criticized for the high profits miners received in the process.
Later on February 26, however, the gasoline charge dropped back down to 55.69 Gwei.
Life hack: don’t get hacked
Vitalik Buterin initially shared his doubts regarding the crypto-addresses posted on Ukraine’s official Twitter account. In fact, many were worried that the account may have been hacked by Russian cybercriminals or that incorrect addresses had been given.
However, Buterin was quick to claim that he had been assured by some Ukrainian sources that the addresses were legitimate.
