Since Russia’s invasion a year ago, there’s been $28.9 million in Ether donated to Ukraine, as well as $22.8 million in Bitcoin and $11.6 million in Tether.
Ukraine has received more than $70 million in cryptocurrencies since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, providing the country with money for military equipment and humanitarian aid.
Those numbers are from February 24 from blockchain data platform Chainalysis, which found that most of the money came in the form of Ether ETH ($1,637) and Bitcoin BTC ($23,392). ETH donors lead the way with $28.9 million, while BTC and Tether contributed USDT ($1.00) $22.8 million, and $11.6 million respectively. Donations have also taken the form of non-fungible tokens, such as UkraineDAO’s auction of Ukrainian NFT flags that sold for $6.1 million.
About 80% of the total $ 70 million grant was disbursed in the first month of the war, and the speed of cryptocurrency payments accelerating the country’s ability to respond to Russian attacks, the deputy minister explained Ukraine digital, Alex Bornyakov, in an interview with Yahoo Money on February 24.
Bornyakov added that the Crypto Fund Aid For Ukraine was an “absolute success” and that he was blown away not only by the number of donations received but also by how easily the digital ministry could access these funds for the defense of Ukraine.
Alona Shevchenko, the co-founder of Ukraine DAO, also explained to Yahoo Finance that cryptocurrencies provided a solution when restrictions were imposed on Ukraine’s central banking system.
According to an August tweet from Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, a large portion of cryptocurrency payments to the digital ministry was used to finance the country’s military equipment, armored clothing, and a range of vehicles and drugs. Confidence in cryptocurrencies in Ukraine seems to be increasing adoption in the country, and a September report from Chainanalysis shows that Ukrainians are the third largest users, behind Vietnam and the Philippines.
However, pro-Russian military groups have used cryptocurrency to fund their war efforts, including using crypto donations to finance military purchases, spread propaganda, and create pro-attack propaganda, according to Chainalysis. The group raised a total of $5.4 million during the campaign however donations have dropped significantly since July.
It is unclear what impact the sanctions have on the situation going down, but a 10th package was launched against Russia on February 24.
Meanwhile, a recent crime report from Chainalysis revealed that of the $456.8 million in total ransom payments in 2022, “actors” are the “actors” and -take most of the money. Chainalysis explains that criminals often use such attacks for political purposes, such as those sponsored by the Conti ransomware conflict, which received $66 million from victims in 2022 and previously expressed “full support” for the Russian government.
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