A mysterious donor donated a cryptocurrency to Ukraine. Tens of millions have already been collected in crypto

Traditional form of donations and funds is not only collected in Ukraine. Cryptocurrency holders also support this country. The Ukrainian Ministry of National Defense uses virtual currency to buy weapons, but also funds necessary for the civilian population. However, you have to be careful where you deposit cryptocurrencies. For Russians, it may be the last resort of financial rescue. Therefore, attacks by cybercriminals or subversive actions are possible. 

The Western world is mobilizing and is continuing to help the attacked Ukraine, which is appealing not only for humanitarian aid, but also for the supply of weapons and ammunition. Importantly, the Ukrainian Ministry of National Defense accepts deposits in the form of cryptocurrencies, e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot and Tethera. A fund called the Crypto Fund of Ukraine has been created for this purpose, and it has been made known on the official state account on Twitter. 

On the sixth day of Russian aggression, Ukraine was handed CryptoPunk # 5364, part of the NFT collection based on the Ethereum blockchain network. This experimental project was inspired by the cyberpunk movement, and Larva Labs issued just 10. CryptoPunk. It is estimated that the part transferred to Ukraine's account is now worth around 230. dollars. Although it is possible that its value will increase even more, because it is in the hands of a country that almost the entire democratic world wants to help.  

The black market and cryptocurrencies are a myth

On Tuesday, Michael Chobanian, the founder of the Ukrainian crypto exchange that helps the Ministry of Digital Transformation handle donations, announced that approximately 14 of the more than 50 million dollars that had already come from contributions to the Crypto Fund of Ukraine had been spent. However, both deposits and expenses are growing almost every hour. The total value of the transferred funds is extremely variable and difficult to estimate, if only because the Ukrainian side is also provided with less popular tokens. More detailed data will probably be known only after the fighting has stopped. 

Virtual Funds - apart from weapons - they helped in the purchase of supplies for civilians, including food and fuel. Interestingly, most of these products were paid for with cryptocurrencies - without having to convert them to traditional currencies.

- I warn you against thinking that if you bought a weapon and paid for the transaction with cryptocurrencies, then the equipment is definitely from the black market. It's just that more and more companies recognize cryptocurrencies, the Ukrainian side is worth trusting, and in the event of aggression against this country, you have to resort to extraordinary measures. Today, after all, nobody is talking about the technical details of settlements, even about taxes. Certainly, however, cryptocurrencies can once again show themselves to the world as a tool that is in no way inferior to traditional means of payment, and under certain conditions even exceeds them - explains Bartosz Bilicki, president of the board SmartVerum, a startup that tokenizes art and creates an "artistic" metaverse.

PussyRiot and Polish startups for Ukraine

Not only official government structures collect virtual funds for Ukraine. PussyRiot, a well-known group of pro-freedom activists on the President's "blacklist", has created a cryptocurrency organization. UkraineDAO aims to raise funds for the attacked country. Nadezhda Tołokonnikowa, the co-founder of the movement, has partnered with Trippy Labs and PleasrDAO to organize the sale of 10 jobs. tokens with a visible flag of Ukraine. The money is to be donated to organizations helping civilians.

The Polish environment of startups operating on the basis of cryptocurrencies also organized joint fundraising. The originator of the action is the startup Subme.app, and the funds are transferred to a payment gateway operated by Ari10, which converts crypto into traditional currency and transfers it to Polska Akcja Humanitarna. Any company that supports the action may place its logo, thus manifesting its opposition to the invasion. 

Cryptocurrencies as the last financial hope of the aggressor?

- You have to remember that the possibility of buying weapons and other goods with funds accumulated on cryptocurrency wallets is a double-edged sword. The Russians can use a similar mechanism. For them, this may be one way to circumvent sanctions and exclude them from the SWIFT system. Due to the decentralized nature of blockchain technology, it will be difficult to check who is actually buying, let alone the top-down exclusion of Russians from the cryptocurrency exchange system - explains Bartosz Bilicki with SmartVerum. 

It is also possible that attacks using scams or other cybercriminal techniques aimed at cryptocurrency owners, carried out by Russian hackers, will intensify in the near future. Experts warn that the owners of the virtual currency who want to transfer it to the Ukrainian side should check very carefully what account they transfer the cryptocurrency to. 

- Cryptocurrencies could become Vladimir Putin's last resort to save his country from economic collapse. It is possible that Russia's desperation and the constantly deteriorating financial situation will push it into more and more erratic movements, and cybercriminals cooperating with it, to aggressive attacks on people who own cryptocurrencies. Although it is worth remembering that this is a group Anonymous is more successful, and yet it works for Ukraine - says the CEO SmartVerum.