Crypto donations in Ukraine can be as high as $200 million

The amount of crypto donations is still rising a year after the war in Ukraine began, as crypto continues to pour in.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis released a report on the role of crypto on the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

It noted that as of February 2023, nearly $70 million in crypto donations had been pledged in support of Ukraine.

The report added that the majority of donations were made in Bitcoin and Ethereum. ETH was the most popular, accounting for around 41% of the total, while BTC donations accounted for around 32.5%. Tether (USDT) was the third most popular cryptoasset donated with 16.5% of the total.

Crypto continues to help Ukraine

As global regulators and bankers move to disrupt the crypto industry, it continues to serve worthy purposes. It has many advantages for donation purposes as it is much faster and cheaper to send across borders than using traditional methods such as banks.

Apart from cryptocurrencies, there have been several donations in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). UkraineDAO’s auction of a Ukrainian flag NFT raised $6.5 million for the country’s war effort. Chainalysis said these were small compared to fiat donations, but:

“They demonstrate the philanthropy of cryptocurrency enthusiasts worldwide and Ukraine’s willingness to accept a wide variety of digital assets.”

It noted that in emerging markets such as Ukraine, crypto has the potential to act as a reliable store of value. It can also increase financial independence and reduce cross-border transaction costs.

“In addition to helping with the war effort, cryptocurrency donations are likely to encourage increased adoption and strengthen an economy that has otherwise been hampered by the war.”

According to the Financial Times, the amount of crypto donated could be much higher. Citing elliptical research, the outlet said more than $200 million in crypto has made its way to pro-Ukrainian causes.

“Ukraine bet big on crypto by offering donation addresses literally hours after the invasion, and it paid off,” an Elliptical analyst told the paper.

According to recent reports, Ukraine has purchased military equipment using cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, the country’s deputy digital minister claimed that 60% of providers were able to accept crypto in return for important battle matters.

Pro-Russia donations fraction

Chainalysis compared the crypto donations in support of Ukraine with those for Russian purposes. It found that after a year of the war, about $5.4 million had been received by roughly 100 pro-Russian organizations.

This is less than 8% of crypto-donations sent to pro-Ukrainian causes.

It added that just over 87% of funds received by pro-Russian groups have gone to centralized exchanges.

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