Ukraine accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT donations to fund ongoing war

Published at: Feb. 27, 2022

Within the first week of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Ukrainian government has reached out to the crypto community on Twitter for raising funds to support its civilians and troops. Ukraine has now started accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) as donations.

As Russia threatens to take over Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv, the government of Ukraine sought help from numerous international organizations to overpower the imminent threat. However, considering time is of the essence, the official Twitter account of Ukraine extended its call for help to Crypto Twitter.

Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.BTC - 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1PETH and USDT (ERC-20) - 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14

— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) February 26, 2022

Additionally, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov also shared three crypto wallet addresses urging the crypto community to donate and help Ukraine fight against the Russian troops. While the BTC and ETH addresses remain the same, Fedorov’s USDT wallet address is TRC20-based (different from the address shared by Ukraine’s office Twitter handle).

Stand with the people of UkraineNow accepting cryptocurrency donations. Ethereum. Bitcoin and Tether (USDTtrc20)BTC — 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1PETH — 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14USDT (trc20) — TEFccmfQ38cZS1DTZVhsxKVDckA8Y6VfCy

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

Prominent crypto entrepreneurs including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin initially suspected that the accounts requesting crypto donations were hacked. However, American diplomat Tomicah Tillemann later confirmed its legitimacy from Ukrainian Ambassador Olexander Scherba.

Getting some confirmations from a couple sources that it's legit. Deleting my warning for now. But continue to be vigilant, and always be slow and careful when sending irreversible crypto transactions. https://t.co/Odv5pxf3mp

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 26, 2022

As a direct result of the ongoing war, Ukrainian civilian-turned refugees have reported the loss of access to their fiat savings and credit cards. The United Nations (UN) reported that over 150,000 people have been displaced from Ukraine as of Feb. 26.

My Ukrainian credit cards don't work anymore. I'm safe physically in Kazakhstan, but all my savings are gone.Crypto is the only money I still have, and today I can say without exaggeration that $BTC, $ETH, and #NFT are going to save my life while I can't come back home.

— ARTYOM FΞDOSOV (@usleepwalker) February 25, 2022

While confusion prevailed about the intended use of the crypto donations, Buterin shared another decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) initiative that focuses solely on Ukrainian citizens.

An opportunity to support Ukrainians here! Proceeds go to civilian efforts helping Ukrainians suffering from the war. https://t.co/GD7Qlw61nT

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 26, 2022

On Feb. 24, Cointelegraph reported that Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence received numerous requests from foreigners for crypto donations. 

crypto donations could be helpful: its really easy, fast, cheap and securealso consider this method

— timo (@tymo_tt) February 24, 2022

Although unconfirmed, it is now believed that proceedings to the addresses shared by the Ukrainian government will be used directly by the government while the DAO proceedings will be redirected towards the citizen welfare via an NGO. 

Related: Crypto community reacts to Russia's war in Ukraine

As soon as the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, prominent crypto entrepreneurs took proactive efforts to aid Ukrainians. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was one of the first to offer monetary support to FTX traders from Ukraine.

we just gave $25 to each Ukrainian on FTXdo what you gotta do

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 24, 2022

As Cointelegraph previously reported, the Ministry of Defense was asked by the crypto community to set up provisions to accept crypto donations — which was previously unavailable.

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