People Send Bitcoin (BTC) Donations to the Ukrainian Military

Earlier today, the Russian military went on the offensive against Ukraine in the biggest European attack since World War Two. Currently, people are sending Bitcoin (BTC) to fund the Ukrainian military. A report from explorer Bitcoin.com depicts that the contributions towards the Ukrainian Military exceed 19 BTC. 

Global BTC Donations Towards Ukrainian Military Increases Amid Russian Invasion

Following today’s major invasion of Russia in Ukraine, people have been rallying to send BTC donations to the Ukrainian military. According to data from explorer Bitcoin.com, a given BTC wallet belonging to an organization funding Ukraine has received over 19 BTC. Crypto exchange platform FTX has also gifted every Ukrainian on the platform $25. Another data site Elliptic shows that a Ukrainian NGO ‘Come Back Alive’ has received over $400K worth of BTC in just 12 hours. The NGO is aiding the Ukrainian military in defense against Russian troops.

“Cryptocurrency is increasingly being used to crowdfund war, with the tacit approval of governments,” noted Tom Robinson, chief scientist at Elliptic.

Earlier on, Ukraine’s defense ministry posted a tweet asking well-wishers to donate towards their cause. However, they declined crypto donations as its new legislation prohibits it. Consequentially, people flocked to Twitter, asking the ministry to compromise and accept crypto donations. Since then, no wallet has been set up or official information regarding the acceptance of crypto donations by the ministry. Another BTC wallet set up by Ukrainian English language news firm Kyiv Independent has received donations worth over $6K in BTC. The donations towards the news publishers will aid them in reporting live from the attack scenes.

The Crypto Space Rallies Towards Aiding Ukraine Against Russian Invasion

Today, the crypto space has wowed the internet again after rallying together to come through for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. It has been a trend for the crypto space to contribute towards such causes as injustices and violations. Multiple NGOs and other charitable organizations have received crypto donations to fund Ukraine’s defense against Russia. According to data site Elliptic, the charity organizations helping Ukraine fend off the Russian attack have received over $1M. However, it’s good to note that the value of the donations may be more as the rate of contribution is growing fast. A certain group called Ukrainian Cyber Alliance has also been receiving crypto donations towards their cause of fighting Russian cyberattacks since 2016. It is alleged that the group has received crypto contributions of over $100K in cryptos. pro-Russian separatists have also been receiving crypto donations since the early days of the feud. London-based fintech data analyst Boaz Sobrado communicated to CNBC that Russian authorities declined to freeze the separatists’ bank accounts for fear of crypto donations as they are hard to monitor. Even though the crypto market is experiencing turbulence with most of the coins in the red zone due to the ongoing war, crypto investors have shown their compassion. The ease of international transactions brought by cryptocurrency benefits Ukraine as it receives crypto donations. Despite the sad fact that wars come with huge tolls, cryptocurrency’s role in the de-escalation of the Russia-Ukraine woes may melt the hearts of non-believers resulting in more adoption.