Since Russia started invading Ukraine, cryptocurrencies have become an important way to reach out to investors and ask them to help raise money for the ongoing war.
Notably, Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, tweeted on July 26 about how important cryptocurrency is to the country’s defense strategy.
Even though the market has been going down recently, he is sure that cryptocurrencies will not go away.
“Despite the ‘bear market’ crypto has become an essential tool of Ukraine’s defense, providing flexibility and speed that literally saved our soldiers’ lives. Every ‘crypto winter’ leads to a ‘crypto spring’, but the industry is here to stay.”
The fight in Ukraine
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Ukrainian government used social media to ask for donations in cryptocurrency. Since then, the East European country has relied on cryptocurrencies to get and keep its money safe.
Compared to traditional banking, digital currencies have many advantages over other ways to send money across borders, including the fact that transactions can be done quickly and anonymously.
The founder of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in Ukraine, KUNA, Michael Chobanian, told Bloomberg:
“It takes 10 minutes for a Bitcoin block to close [average confirmation time for a Bitcoin payment]. And it takes about three days to do the same thing through the banking system.”
It’s hard to say how much money Ukraine has made from cryptocurrencies, but some sources say it’s well over $100 million. Donations of crypto have been used for many things, like emergency supplies, food, water, gas, and military equipment.
Donations are worth less now because cryptocurrency prices have recently dropped by a lot. But this doesn’t seem to stop Ukrainians who are interested in cryptocurrencies from trying to make money.
The biggest independent beer brand in Ukraine, Obolon, wants to help people by giving away free water by selling tokens that can’t be exchanged for cash (NFTs).
The Ukrainian government is still looking for ways for artists who use cryptocurrency to make NFTs to make money for the country. The NFTs will be sold to raise money for the military and for rebuilding the country.
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