Crypto is helping Ukraine fight back — a verified list of crypto donation funds and NFT initiatives
Despite ongoing war and constant attacks by air, the Ukrainian government signed legislation to establish a regulated crypto market in Ukraine on March 16th. Crypto donations are helping to coordinate a massive stream of humanitarian support to those most in need as well as the armed forces of Ukraine. According to data collected by the Cointelegraph in early April, the amount of tracked crypto donations sent to the Ukrainian government, military and charities have exceeded $133 million.
Moreover, the official crypto charity platform Aid for Ukraine, set up by the country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, has attracted more than $60 million in donations to government wallet addresses in BTC, ETH, USDT, SOL, DOGE, and more, to support people in their fight for freedom.
Aid for Ukraine by the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital transformation
The story. In his interview with Blockpit, the CEO of the crypto staking company Everstake, shared that war has made it very challenging and slow to send transactions in crypto to support Ukraine. Hence, together with Solana they have launched a DAO called Aid for Ukraine — this decentralized organization collects crypto donations in various assets and transfers them directly to the National Bank of Ukraine.
Help in action. With over $60 million raised at the time of writing, all crypto donations will be used to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukrainian civilians in need of humanitarian aid and vital supplies.
Vitalik’s donation. In early April, Vitalik Buterin made a huge donation of $5 million worth of ETH to Ukraine. Half the sum went to the Aid for Ukraine portal, another half went to the Unchain Fund.
NEAR to Ukraine. The NEAR community has contributed $9.5M in $NEAR — $9.3M was sent to Unchain Fund and $200K contributed to Aid for Ukraine.
The NEAR protocol has enabled a direct donation to the Aid for Ukraine account. All that’s needed from the user to donate $NEAR is to enter “Ukraine” in the wallet address field, insert the sum and confirm the transaction. As easy as it sounds!
Unchain Fund: breaking the chain of war
Unchain Fund is a crypto community-backed charitable organization that aims to break the chain of war in Ukraine. The venture has enabled donations on 14 blockchain protocols, including Ethereum, Solana, and the BSC. The fund does not raise crypto donations to purchase weapons; instead, volunteers finance the purchase of food, medicine, clothes, fuel, bulletproof vests, and helmets.
This crypto initiative is supported by Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Illia Polosukhin (NEAR), Alexey Meretskyi (Weld), and many more influential crypto proponents and blockchain projects.
Last month they launched the first-ever charitable cryptocurrency card in the world for families in need — the Unchain Help Card. Their team has explained that it looks like the usual virtual MasterCard debit card, but that it will distribute donated money directly to Ukrainian mothers affected by the war.
“Applicants will be required to undergo a simple verification process via Unchain’s chatbot and provide either their temporary ID from the Ukrainian e-government system Diia, proof of identity and their tax code, and their children’s birth certificates”, outlines an Unchain Fund representative.
NFT creators are fighting back
Ukraine DAO. Ukraine DAO is a long-term global decentralized initiative to support Ukraine, counter Russian propaganda, amplify Ukrainian voices and help rebuild the country after the war. Back in March, Ukraine DAO sold 10K NFTs of the Ukrainian flag, raising over $6.7 million to support the Ukrainian military forces.
Reli3F. Reli3f is a web3 humanitarian initiative that held a massive NFT sale, including art pieces by 37 popular artists such as Danny Cole, Sartoshi, and Gremplin. They sold out within 30 seconds of the initial launch, raising over $1 million dollars which were sent to Ukraine’s relief efforts.
PoignART. The platform helps creators mint NFTs in support of Ukraine, with 100% of earnings going to humanitarian aid through the Unchain Fund. If you wish to participate as an artist, all you need to do is upload original media and let the PoignART team do the rest. The initiative has raised $10,242,347 so far!
The Meta History Museum of War: an official NFT collection
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has released an NFT-museum of the war against Ukraine conducted by Putin’s Russia. The museum is based on the official collection approved by the ministry.
Its mission is to set in stone the timeline of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and people, record Russia’s crimes against humanity and the Ukrainian people, spread the truth about what’s happening in Ukraine, and collect donations from NFT sales.
My personal favorites are the following NFT artworks:
INC4 raises crypto to support Ukrainian hospitals
As the CEO of INC4, I can say that our team is proudly Ukrainian, and a lot of our friends and family have been affected by Russian aggression. Each day of the war brings more death, devastation and casualties — that’s why we want to help the Regional Cancer Center of Mykolaiv which is now treating those caught in the firing.
Long story short. We have been collecting and using our personal financial reserves to assist the Regional Cancer Center of Mykolaiv. This particular hospital is in a conflict hotspot and needs specialized equipment.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the hospital agreed to purchase Halcyon Linear Accelerator equipment for $200,000 to treat cancer patients. It also provides other emergency services to injured civilians and soldiers requiring extra equipment.
By donating to this hospital, you are providing essential services to everyday citizens who require special care and those who are affected by heavy fighting in the region.
