‘Aid for Ukraine,’ an initiative that raises funds from the crypto community to aid Ukraine’s military and humanitarian needs, has officially launched its website.
The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, FTX and Everstake. FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange built by traders. Everstake is a Ukraine-based decentralised staking provider in the blockchain industry.
Why this initiative?
This initiative will enable users globally to donate to Ukraine through cryptocurrency. Users who want to donate cryptocurrency need to connect a wallet and transact. The fundraising process will be traceable in real-time on the website, says the press release.
Sergey Vasilchuk, CEO at Everstake, says, “Freedom has always been at the bedrock of the crypto community. It is the same fundamental value that Ukraine is currently fighting for, and the crypto community expressed its strong desire to help Ukraine right after the onset of this abysmal war. As a part of this great community and as a Ukraine-based company we feel an obligation to help in whatever way we can. That is how and why Aid For Ukraine came to be.”
The overall donations will be summed up and tentatively expressed in USD at the Coingecko rate. At the time of writing this article, around $48,598,960 out of $200,000,000 has been collected.
Donation in cryptocurrencies
Currently, users can donate to the existing wallets of the Ministry of Digital Transformation in BTC, ETH, USDT (TRC-20), DOT, SOL, DOGE, and XMR. The initiative has also added ICX, EOS and NEO.
The website also plans to add more cryptocurrencies in the future in collaboration with Everstake.
The company’s officers are in direct contact with the community representatives willing to take part in helping the people of Ukraine.
“The crypto community does not want to stand aside and watch Ukrainians suffer from the unprovoked aggression by the Russian Federation and the subsequent humanitarian disaster unseen in Europe since the Balkan war,” says Aid for Ukraine.
Aid For Ukraine has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange FTX to convert crypto funds into fiat and send the donations to the National Bank of Ukraine.
Earlier this month, FTX converted $1M worth of SOL and transferred it to the National Bank of Ukraine.
This marks the first-ever instance of a cryptocurrency exchange directly cooperating with a public financial entity to provide a conduit for crypto donations.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, says, “At the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, FTX felt the need to provide assistance in any way it could. By working with the Ministry of Digital Transformation to set up payment rails and facilitate the conversion of crypto donations into fiat currency, we have given the National Bank of Ukraine the ability to deliver aid and resources to the people who need it most. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Sergey and the Everstake team as they continue to work tirelessly in helping Ukrainians as they suffer from this conflict,”
Donated $80M
The crypto community has already donated more than $80M to Ukraine, with over $50M going to the official accounts of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Oleksandr Bornyakov, the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on IT industry development, says, “Today, crypto is playing a significant role in Ukraine’s defence. Crypto assets proved extremely helpful in facilitation of funding flows to Ukrainian citizens and soldiers, as well as in raising awareness and engaging people worldwide. The amount of crypto crowdfunding for our country is already the biggest in history so far. We expect that the NFT collection will give the next boost to the crypto fundraising process. Huge thanks to the crypto community for this unprecedented support of Ukraine and its defence of the principles of democracy and freedom in face of the war waged by the Russian Federation,”
