Ukraine has become the first sovereign nation to fund its defense efforts in crypto
Ukraine has pioneered a new source of financial support: people around the world who have donated millions of dollars directly to its war effort via crypto assets such as Bitcoin.
Since February 26, 2022, when Ukrainian officials began tweeting calls for cryptocurrency donations, the Ukrainian government has received over $70 million in crypto as of March 30.
“Today, cryptocurrency plays a significant role in the defense of Ukraine,” wrote Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation of the country, on the national donation website.
Bitcoin and other cryptos were legalized in Ukraine by the new law that Zelenskyy signed in mid-March. The law allowed foreign and Ukrainian crypto exchanges to operate legally in Ukraine and created a regulatory framework for an open crypto market in Ukraine for the first time.
However, cryptocurrencies continue to be a magnet for scams and are the currency of choice for criminal networks. ECB head Christine Lagarde warned that crypto assets “are being used as a way to try to circumvent the sanctions” against Russia, but didn’t provide details beyond noting that global transfers of rubles into cryptocurrency are rising sharply in volume.
Donate crypto to Ukraine: donate.thedigital.gov.ua
