Ukrainian Govt Has Raised $19M in Crypto Donations So Far

Key Insights

• Crypto donations pouring in after Ukrainian Vice President’s appeal
• Binance sets up a crowdfunding page and donates $10 million
• Crypto community rallies to the cause as Russian banks see sanctions

According to blockchain data firm Elliptic, the total amount raised so far is $18.9 million as of Feb. 27. 23:50 UTC.

Crypto assets have been the currency of choice for fundraising as they can be sent instantly and circumvent any banking or cross-border obstacles that may be in place.

The firm added that there was one single donation of $3 million in Bitcoin (BTC). It continued to report that several million dollars in crypto donations have also been received by Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO which supports the military.

There was also a single $1.86 million donation that appeared to have originated from the sale of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) originally intended to raise funds for Julian Assange, it added.

The breakdown of digital assets donated is around 56% BTC, 32% ETH, and 11% stablecoins according to the latest Elliptic data.

Binance to Donate $10M

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has also pledged a sizable sum in the way of donations towards the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis. On Feb. 27, Binance announced that it was donating $10 million with a focus on providing on-the-ground support through charity and collaboration.

The firm stated that the donation will be split between major inter-governmental organizations and nonprofit organizations already operating in the country. These include UNICEF, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Strategic Action Network (iSans), and People in Need.

Binance added that it has also launched a crypto crowdfunding website, called Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund. The platform allows people to make donations in crypto which will go towards helping to provide emergency relief to children and refugees. It will also help to fund and support ground-based logistics such as food, fuel, and supplies. At the time of writing, the platform had accrued $5.8 million from 214 donors. Binance itself pledged most of that with a 16,000 Binance Coin (BNB) donation.

#Binance is donating $10 million to help the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine🇺🇦

Our focus is providing on-the-ground support through charity & collaboration.@BinanceBCF also launched the Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund to provide emergency relief through crypto crowdfunding.

— Binance (@binance) February 27, 2022

The company added that it is also working with a number of local refugee groups who are “actively working to expedite Ukrainians’ passage across the border into safety in two neighboring countries.”

Binance founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, commented:

“Watching this conflict escalate over the past four days has shocked our community to its core. We are proud to have been able to quickly rally our network to provide relief and support on the ground to those in need.”

Crypto Donations Pouring In

Binance is not the only entity working to rally the crypto community to the cause. Late last week, the founding member of Russian anti-establishment rock band Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, announced UkraineDAO.

The DAO will mint and auction NFTs of the Ukrainian flag with proceeds going towards local NGOs. At the time of writing, the highest bid was 1,102.5 ETH worth approximately $2.87 million