Ukraine launches fund raising site with crypto-firms FTX and Everstake

Ukraine launches fund raising site with crypto-firms FTX and Everstake

 

The Ukrainian government, in collaboration with cryptocurrency startups FTX and Everstake, created a website on Monday that will direct payments to Ukraine's central bank as it fights a disastrous Russian invasion. Users can donate in ten different crypto currencies on the "Aid for Ukraine" website, including Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, and Dogecoin.

As the Ukraine situation worsens and the rest of the world watches in horror, digital currency has become the besieged country's only hope. Everstake, one of Ukraine's largest crypto currency exchanges, will now allow users to donate in crypto currencies other than those listed on the platform.

"Crypto currencies play a significant role in Ukraine's defense," Oleksandre Borniakov, Ukraine's deputy minister of Digital Transformation, said in a statement.

"Crypto currency assets have proven to be extremely valuable in facilitating the flow of funding to Ukrainian citizens and soldiers and in raising awareness and interest among the global public," he added.

The donated monies will be converted into dollars and routed to the National Bank of Ukraine through the Bahamas-based exchange platform FTX, which was founded by US billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. Kuna, a crypto currency exchange site based in Ukraine, is also a part of the programme.

A tracker on the "Aid for Ukraine" website revealed that about $49 million had been raised by 0230 GMT Tuesday, out of a target goal of $200 million.

FTX and Everstake have teamed up to develop a Crypto Fundraising Site for the Ukrainian government. The primary purpose of the site is to facilitate an official avenue for crypto users who wish to donate to the war-torn country.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation today announced, in partnership with FTX and Everstake, the launch of an official crypto fundraising site called Aid for Ukraine to help expedite donations to the war-torn nation. Currently, donations to Aid for Ukraine can be made in BTC, ETH, USDT, DOT, SOL, DOGE, XMR, ICON, EOS, and NEO.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried first announced the partnership last week. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, it is estimated that funds amounting to more than $60 million in crypto currency has been donated to the Ukraine government, as per the data compiled and released by the blockchain tracker Elliptic.

It is also significant to note that data released from analytics firm Merkle Science, shows an amount  of approximately $93.6 million in crypto currency has gone to the Ukrainian institutions, both government and non-government, since the start of the conflict, with Ethereum emerging as the largest component among the crypto currencies.

As a matter of principle all the contributions to the fund raising site, “Aid for Ukraine,” will go directly to the country's armed forces and residents in need of support.

Bankman-Fried spoke with Australian philosopher and animal rights activist Peter Singer on crypto use in Ukraine during a one-on-one discussion at this year's Camp Ethereal, which was sponsored by Decrypt.

"You're going to be more under banked than you thought you were if there's a tank outside your bank," Bankman-Fried said, "so I think it's been very great to see [crypto] give an international financial lifeline."