The Ukrainian Government started accepting crypto donations last week. A tweet published by the official Twitter account of Ukraine revealed the country was first accepting donations in the form of Bitcoin ($BTC), Ethereum ($ETH), and USDT. And people worldwide continue to show their support for Ukraine as they have donated over $52 million in digital currencies to fight against Russia. Thanks to the decentralised nature of virtual currencies.
The Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, Wednesday, March 2, announced that the Ukrainian government is now accepting donations in the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin ($DOGE).
In a tweet Fedorov shared, he said that the value of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency ‘exceeded [that of the] Russian ruble.’ The minister added that now “even meme can support our army and save lives from Russia invaders.” He further tagged prominent DOGE supporter Elon Musk in the tweet and cryptocurrency’s co-founder Billy Markus.
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After that announcement, the founder of Polkadot ($DOT) – Gavin Wood, pledged to donate $5 million if it accepted the cryptocurrency. Shortly after, Ukraine’s official Twitter account shared a DOT address and a transaction from Wood for 298,367 DOT worth over $5.7 million; other sources donated a few hundred thousand.
Blockchain data shows that accepting DOGE has also been beneficial for the Ukrainian government, as around 280,000 DOGE have now been sent to the country’s wallet.
According to Elliptic, a blockchain analytics firm tracking crypto donations to Ukraine, the country has collected most of its donations in Bitcoin (BTC). However, donations have also been coming in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). One donation was a CryptoPunk worth an estimated $200,000, and another came from an NFT collection that pays a 10% royalty fee to Ukrainian charities.
Additionally, Ukraine has announced its plans to airdrop rewards to those who have donated. The Ukraine government revealed this after millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies were sent to the country to help fund its war efforts following Russia’s invasion. This was announced on the government’s official Twitter account on Wednesday that an airdrop has been confirmed, adding that the snapshot is scheduled for today (March 3) at 6 pm Kyiv time.
An airdrop basically entails project creators distributing crypto tokens for free to members of their community (usually early users) as a reward for supporting the project. They are also an effective marketing tool for pulling in new users in a bid to bolster adoption.
In June 2021, El Salvador airdropped $30 worth of bitcoin to its citizens that downloaded its Chivo wallet after the country adopted the benchmark cryptocurrency as its legal tender. However, the impending one in Ukraine will represent the first time in history that a country has airdropped donated crypto assets, although it is still unclear what exact assets the war-stricken nation will be distributing.
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