After Russia launched an offensive against Ukraine on Thursday, Bitcoin donations to the latter’s army have been going off the roofs. This also follows news of the National Bank of Ukraine placing a hold on electronic money transfers.
According to data from blockchain analytics company Elliptic, within 12 hours on Thursday, almost $400,000 worth of Bitcoin was donated to Come Back Alive – a Ukrainian non-governmental organization providing support to the country’s military. Come Back Alive, which has accepted cryptocurrency since 2018, provides the military with equipment, training services and medical supplies.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian non-governmental organizations and volunteer groups have been receiving donations running into hundreds of dollars, Elliptic said. These groups have been ramping efforts aimed at preventing a Russian offensive and the recent donation comes amid an attack on Ukraine by Russia.
These donations have been channelled into different purposes all aimed at supporting the military. These groups have used these funds to provide military equipment, medical supplies and military drones. A project developing a facial recognition app to identify the nationality of a person, as well as if they’re a spy or Russian mercenary, is being funded by these donations.
According to Elliptic’s Chief Scientist – Tom Robinson, ‘cryptocurrency is increasingly being used to crowdfund war, with the tacit approval of governments”.
Typically, donations are received in scenarios like these using bank wires and payments apps, but cryptocurrencies have made it easier to receive funds from private donors because they’re a loophole that’ll allow these volunteer groups which have quite a long history of providing military support, to receive funds even when other options may have been blocked.
NGOs and volunteer groups have always been there bolstering the efforts of the military. According to Elliptic, collectively more than $1 million in cryptocurrency have been raised and this number promises to grow as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues.
Apart from Come Back Alive, other NGOs and volunteer groups have also been receiving donations. The Ukrainian Cyber Alliance, another group, has received donations in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and others worth almost $100,000.
Following a nationwide declaration of martial law by Ukraine’s central bank, electronic money (e-money) issuers have been ordered by the National Bank of Ukraine to suspend the issuance of e-money and replenishing wallets. Ukrainians have begun to turn to cryptocurrencies and are gearing to USDT because it is relatively stable compared to Bitcoin and Ether which have suffered volatility these past weeks.
Although cryptocurrencies are not a legal tender in Ukraine, the country has taken steps to provide regulations and legalization for them.
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
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