Ukraine adds DOT donation acceptance as financial support swells

Ukraine adds DOT donation acceptance as financial support swells

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This article is contributed by Sadie Williamson, founder of Williamson Fintech Consulting.

Amid the increasing geopolitical tension and the raging war, the Ukrainian government has revealed that it is now accepting Polkadot (DOT) donations. Initially, the Ukrainian government was only accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT via the Tron network) in crypto donations. 

This decision comes at the heels of Polkadot founder Gavin Wood’s comment on the original tweet posted by the Ukrainian government’s Twitter handle. In his tweet, Wood proposed a personal contribution of $5 million in DOT tokens if the government shared a DOT address. Following this mention, Alex Bornyakov, the deputy minister of digital transformation of Ukraine on IT industry development, shared the DOT address, further confirmed by Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice prime minister of Ukraine and minister of digital transformation of Ukraine.

Earlier today, the Ukrainian government confirmed via another tweet that they are now accepting Polkadot donations as well, with more cryptocurrencies to be accepted soon. Currently, crypto donations to Ukraine are coming in from all over the world, including UkraineDAO, a newly launched DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) by Nadya Tolokonnikova, founding member of “Russian feminist protest art group” Pussy Riot, and Unchain Fund, a global crypto-native fundraising campaign launched on February 25, 2022.

In the time since Russia invaded Ukraine, global users have donated millions of dollars worth of BTC, USDT, and ETH to the Ukrainian government and the nonprofit organizations supporting the country in its time of need. The latest data from leading blockchain analytics firm Elliptic shows that cryptocurrency donations to Ukraine have already reached $30.8 million since the start of the Russian military campaign. Another report by Cointelegraph indicates that the total crypto donations sent to the Ukrainian government, charities, and military have crossed $37 million worth of BTC, ETH, USDT, and several other altcoins.

Other than the cryptocurrencies accepted by the Ukrainian government, NGOs and individual activists are also accepting a wide range of crypto donations. To date, several large donations have been made across multiple addresses, including a $1.86 million donation and two BTC donations worth $1.7 million received from a single address. 

Other notable contributions include the donation of 10 BTC, plus a portion of its hashrate by Braiins, the world’s oldest BTC mining pool, and a total of 185 ETH contributed by RELI3F, the Web3 humanitarian aid initiative. TRON’s Justin Sun has also thrown his weight behind the cause, donating an initial 200,000 USDT to the Ukrainian effort.

Finally, making good on his pledge, Gavin Wood has since delivered 298,367 DOT to the Ukraine Government’s wallet address, worth nearly $5.8 million, bringing the total number of contributions past the $6 million mark within hours of the wallet address going live.

Sadie Williamson is the founder of Williamson Fintech Consulting.


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