The Russian invasion of Ukraine has entered its seventh week and cryptocurrency has helped aid activities in many ways. Now, Ethereum co-founder – Vitalik Buterin has contributed to the effort with $5 million.
Vitalik Buterin donated $5 million worth of ether to two Ukrainian charities this week. Although he did not announce the donations personally, the transactions were disclosed by Aid For Ukraine and Unchain Fund. $2.5 million was donated to them each.
Specifically, he sent the donations in three transactions of 750 ETH, 250 ETH, and 500 ETH from his registered Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain name, ‘vitalik.eth’.
Aid For Ukraine is operated by the country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation while Unchain Fund is a charity project created by blockchain activists to support Ukraine with humanitarian aid.
Buterin has passed remarks on the war between Russia and Ukraine. He called the conflict a “crime against the Ukrainian and Russian people” on Feb. 23. Then, he argued that other wars are “not a valid excuse to not care about Ukrainians” on Mar. 9.
He has also distanced his own comments from the Ethereum Foundation, stating that “Ethereum is neutral, but I am not.”
Ukraine donation passes $100 million
Since the start of the “special military operation” on February 24, Ukraine has received support in crypto from all over the world. According to a Finbold report on March 28, it topped $100 million.
Bitcoin (BTC) donations to Ukraine began pouring as Russia threatened to launch an invasion on February 8, mostly spearheaded by Ukrainian volunteers and hacker organizations. Particularly, the contributions have been made to the Ukrainian government, as well as to Ukrainian NGO: Come Back Alive, UkraineDAO, Unchain Fund, Aid For Ukraine, and Cryberpolice Ukraine.
Some individuals and companies in the crypto industry have made donations. Binance has committed to donating $10 million to Ukrainian aid. Kraken provided $1,000 of Bitcoin to Ukraine users who registered within a certain timeframe.
Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter and current CEO of Block Inc., donated $1 million to Ukraine through his charity organization #StartSmall in March.
The donations’ recipients have used them for various purposes. The funds have reportedly been spent on military supplies, refugee support, and critical supplies such as food, water, and gas.
In that regard, crypto donations have demonstrated the ability to provide instant, cross-border money transfers that do not require mediation from conventional financial institutions.
Bitcoin’s resilience
On March 28, lead insights analyst Will Clemente noted that “Bitcoin is up 35% since Russia entered Ukraine”, showing the flagship digital asset’s resilience in the face of the challenging geopolitical market situations.
However, Bitcoin and major digital assets are currently going through some bearish times. Falling below the $45,000 mark. According to data from Coinmarketcap at press time, it is trading at $43,731, down 3.24% in the past one week. Its Market Cap stands at $831.15B.
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