Ukraine Received $13.7 Million Worth of Bitcoins from Thousands of Anonymous Donors

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 27 February 2022, 10:02 am

Ukraine is getting support from thousands of anonymous donors. Cryptocurrency analysts revealed that the country had reached at least $13.7 million in Bitcoins so far for its war effort.

Ukraine Receives Millions Worth of Bitcoins

The researchers at Elliptic, a blockchain analysis company, said that the Ukrainian government, volunteer groups, and NGOs had raised the money by advertising their respective Bitcoin wallet addresses online.

So far, more than 4,000 donations have come in, with one anonymous donor donating Bitcoin worth $3 million to an NGO. The median donation for Ukraine is $95.

On Feb. 26, the official Twitter account of the Ukrainian government posted a message online asking the public to stand with the people of Ukraine.

The government advertised that they are accepting cryptocurrency donations, not only Bitcoins but USDT and Ethereum too.

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The government posted addresses for two cryptocurrency wallets that have collected around $5.4 million in Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies within only eight hours.

The Ukrainian Digital Ministry said that the latest call for donations is to help Ukraine's armed forces against the Russian invasion. However, the ministry would not elaborate on how the cryptocurrencies would be spent.

Tom Robinson, the founder of Elliptic, which sells blockchain analytics tools to banks, told the BBC that several crowdfunding and payments companies have refused to allow donations to be made to groups connected to the Ukrainian military. This is why cryptocurrencies were used as an alternative.

On Feb. 25, Patreon, a famous fundraising platform, announced that it had suspended the donation page for a Ukrainian NGO that has been raising money for Ukrainian forces in conflict zones since 2014.

Patreon said that the page called "Come Back Alive" violated the company's policies. The platform stated in a statement that they do not allow the site to be used for funding weapons or military activity.

Cryptocurrency fundraising is becoming a prominent part of modern conflicts in the world, according to CNN.

Because of its increasing popularity and exposure, scammers are taking advantage of the situation and are tricking unsuspecting users who wish to donate to Ukraine.

Elliptic said that at least one social media post was discovered to copy a legitimate tweet from an NGO, but with the user changing the Bitcoin address for their gain.

What the Cryptocurrencies are Being Used For

Several activists have deployed the cryptocurrency for several purposes, including equipping the Ukrainian army with medical supplies, drones, and military equipment and funding the development of a facial recognition app that identifies if someone is a Russian spy or mercenary.

Robinson added that cryptocurrency is very helpful in international fundraising because it does not go against national boundaries and is resistant to censorship.

Also, cryptocurrencies have no central authority that can block transactions, like in response to sanctions, according to CNBC.

Robinson said that cryptocurrency is now being used to crowdfund war, with the tacit approval of governments around the world.

One of the groups supporting the efforts of the Ukrainian resistance have asked for donations in cryptocurrency assets, like nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.