In the first week of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian government has turned to the cryptocurrency community on Twitter to raise funds to support its civilians and troops. Ukraine has started accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) as donations.
Amid military threats across the country of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government sought help from numerous international organizations. However, considering that time is of the essence, the official Ukrainian Twitter account extended its request for help to Crypto Twitter.
Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.
BTC – 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P
ETH and USDT (ERC-20) – 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14
— Ukraine (@Ukraine) February 26, 2022
Support the people of Ukraine. We now accept donations in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.
Additionally, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov also shared three crypto wallet addresses urging the crypto community to donate and help Ukraine fight Russian troops. While the BTC and ETH addresses remain the same, Fedorov’s USDT wallet address is based on TRC20 (different from the address shared by the official Ukrainian Twitter handle).
Stand with the people of Ukraine
Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Ethereum. Bitcoin and Tether (USDTtrc20)BTC — 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P
ETH—0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14
USDT (trc20) — TEFccmfQ38cZS1DTZVhsxKVDckA8Y6VfCy
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022
Prominent crypto entrepreneurs, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, initially suspected that accounts requesting crypto donations had been hacked.. However, the American diplomat Tomicah Tillemann later confirmed his legitimacy by the Ukrainian ambassador Olexander Shcherba.
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
Getting some confirmations from a couple of sources that it’s legit. For now, I delete my warning. But continue to be vigilant, and always be slow and careful when sending irreversible cryptocurrency transactions.
Ukrainian civilians-turned-refugees have reported losing access to their fiat savings and credit cards. The United Nations Organization (UN) reported that more than 150,000 people have been displaced from Ukraine as of February 26.
My Ukrainian credit cards don’t work anymore. I’m physically safe 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, $ETHand #NFT are going to save my life while I can’t come back home.
— ARTYOM FΞDOSOV (@usleepwalker) February 25, 2022
My Ukrainian credit cards no longer work. I am physically safe in Kazakhstan, but all my savings are gone.
Cryptocurrencies are the only money I still have, and today I can say without exaggeration that BTC, ETH and NFT are going to save my life until I can go back home.
While confusion prevailed over the intended use of crypto donations, Buterin shared another decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) initiative that focuses exclusively 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
An opportunity to support Ukrainians here! Proceeds go to civilian relief efforts for Ukrainians suffering from war
UkraineDAO, led by Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, launched with the launch of a 1/1 Ukrainian flag non-fungible token (NFT) to raise funds for Ukrainian civil organizations to help those suffering from the war started by Putin. .
On Feb. 24, Cointelegraph reported that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense received numerous requests for crypto donations from foreigners.
crypto donations could be helpful: its really easy, fast, cheap and secure
also consider this method— Timo (@tymo_tt) February 24, 2022
cryptocurrency donations could be useful: it’s really easy, fast, cheap and safe
also consider this method
Although not confirmed, it is now believed that the procedures to the addresses shared by the Ukrainian government will be used directly by the government, while the DAO procedures will be redirected towards the welfare of citizens through an NGO.
From February 24, prominent crypto entrepreneurs took proactive steps to help 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 FTX
do what you gotta do
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 24, 2022
we just gave 25 dollars to every ukrainian in FTX
Do what you have to do
As Cointelegraph previously reported, the Ministry of Defense was requested by the cryptocurrency community to make provisions for accepting cryptocurrency donations – which was previously unavailable.
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