New Delhi (TIP)-Although several countries have banned cryptocurrency, the decentralised money has become a mainstream component of the global financial system. This means that it will inevitably become a part of international conflict, for better or worse and as Russian armies enter Ukraine, this is on full show.As the war with Russia rages on, Ukrainian officials urged netizens on Twitter to send cryptocurrency. Since then, according to reports, cryptocurrency investors have given the Ukrainian government and a foundation backing the country’s military, more than $22 million in digital assets.
The turmoil in Ukraine has brought the burgeoning industry under increased attention, with politicians and regulators concerned that the cryptocurrencies could be used by Russian firms and government officials to circumvent sanctions. However, as more traditional crowdfunding techniques face challenges, cryptocurrency has created a way for investors all across the world to quickly shift funds to Ukrainian soldiers. In the case of crypto donations, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on February 26 shared wallet addresses on Twitter, urging people to “Stand with the people of Ukraine”, while adding that “now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT”. Later, in the same Twitter thread, he wrote: “The people of Ukraine fighting for our freedom are forever grateful to Gavin Wood @gavofyork for the generous donation of $5M of @Polkadot $DOT as promised publicly. Thank you from all of us here in Ukraine working for a peaceful future.”
As of now, some reports have claimed that Ukraine has received at least $11 million through anonymous Bitcoin donations.
Separately, Come Back Alive, a Kyiv-based organisation that raises funds to arm and train Ukrainian military men, had a page taken down by the crowdfunding platform Patreon, which stated that the page had broken its rules prohibiting support of military activities. But now the organisation is getting funds from a crypto collective called UkraineDAO, which was formed last week by some crypto enthusiasts.
According to a report it was said Come Back Alive had pledged to use the funds to provide medical assistance to war victims rather than armed soldiers.
Additionally, it was also reported that Since Kremlin launched its attacks on the neighbouring country, cryptocurrency donations to Ukrainian volunteer and hacktivists groups have increased dramatically.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire CEO of crypto exchange FTX US, revealed in a tweet that they had given $25 to each Ukrainian on their platform.
These activities highlight the fact that at this time of crisis, donors who might have otherwise given their money to huge charities have turned to cryptocurrencies as an alternative.
But in a separate scenario, cryptocurrency exchanges have refused Ukraine’s request to suspend all Russian accounts.
As reported recently, major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance have refused to comply with Ukraine’s request to freeze all Russian accounts, claiming that doing so would damage people and go against their values. Source: News18