The Ukraine fund spends $54 million in crypto donations on military equipment

One of Ukraine’s non-profit war funds has spent $54 million of its crypto donations on military hardware as the country enters its 25th week since Russia invaded.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted On Thursday, an overview of the fund’s costs for purchases for, among other things, helmets and digital binoculars.

The lion’s share, around $11 million, went to unmanned aerial vehicles, closely followed by body armor, hardware and software.

“Thank you to the crypto community for support since the start of the full-scale invasion,” the minister tweeted.

Donations have been made to the non-profit organization “Aid For Ukraine” run by Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation. The crypto payment rails are facilitated by crypto exchange FTX, Ukraine’s Kuna Exchange and DeFi staking provider Everstake. The fund was first established in March.

“Despite the ‘bear market’, crypto has become an important tool for Ukraine’s defense that provides flexibility and speed that literally saved the lives of our soldiers,” Bornyakov tweeted at the end of July. “Every ‘crypto winter’ leads to a ‘crypto spring,’ but the industry is here to stay.”

Donations can be made with, among others, bitcoin, ether, USDT, solana and polkadot. Funds raised go to humanitarian aid programs and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Background for crypto donations

The crypto community — which began donating at the beginning of the invasion — has so far raised more than $60 million for the fund, according to the nonprofit’s website.

Russia crossed into Ukraine’s territory on February 24 after weeks of troop buildup along the country’s borders, prompting global condemnation of Russia, including US-led economic sanctions.

Ukraine, a crypto-friendly nation, legalized digital assets this year following Russia’s invasion with the passage of the “On Virtual Assets” law in February which was later ratified by the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in March.

The Act initiated a formal framework for the establishment of a legal market for digital assets and established a licensing regime and regulatory oversight. The law coincides with donations from the crypto community, said to be in the hundreds of millions.

Skyrocketing crypto prices have negatively affected the overall purchasing power Ukraine needs to stockpile ammunition and supplies. The country made a separate $58 million purchase before the last big “fall” in June, said Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister for digital transformation. CoinDesk.

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