According to a report by Crystal Blockchain, war-torn Ukraine has received over $225 million worth of crypto from supporters as the country continues its fight against Russia.
Ukraine’s Crypto Sponsors
Part of Ukraine’s donations have come from prominent companies and figures in the crypto industry. The world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance contributed $10 million worth of crypto in February 2022 to agencies like UNICEF, UNHCR, and UN Refugee Agency to support their efforts in Ukraine.
Polkadot’s co-founder Gavin Wood and Tron’s founder Justice Sun were publicized to have donated $5 million worth of DOT and $200,000 worth of USDT, respectively. Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin was also quick to show support for the people of Ukraine despite being born in Russia, as he donated close to $5 million worth of ETH.
At the start of the war, he also described Putin’s actions and the war against Ukraine as a “crime against the Ukrainian and Russian people” in a tweet.
Breakdown Of These Crypto Donations
Most of these crypto donations came in 2022 (at the beginning of the war) and cooled off toward the end of last year and the beginning of 2023. According to the report, Ukraine has received less than $10 million in crypto since May.
March 2022 is reported as the most successful period in terms of donations for Ukraine, with the country raking in close to $100 million. February 2022, when the Russian military invaded Ukraine, ranks second as the country received more than $30 million worth of crypto.
Crystal Blockchain also estimates most of the crypto donations ($83 million) to have come in USDT. Ethereum (ETH) ranks second, accounting for $79 million of the donations, and Bitcoin (BTC) ranks third with about $41 million.
Meanwhile, Russia was not left behind in terms of crypto donations as the country also received crypto donations from Russians and some supporters abroad. However, Russia’s fundraising efforts have been more covert. This and global condemnation of Russia’s actions might be the reason why Ukraine’s crypto donations have significantly outpaced that of Russia.
There also continue to be discrepancies in the amount Russia has raised. This Crystal report states that the Russian military has only received about $2 million worth of crypto. In March this year, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that Russian forces have received less than $5 million in digital assets.
In February, Chainanlaysis noted that Russia’s crypto donations had grown to nearly $5.5 million. Meanwhile, Binance told CoinDesk it located over $7.2 million in crypto donations to Russia.