The bitter conflict in Ukraine has two sides, and both have used crypto technology and digital assets to fund their military and humanitarian efforts. According to a report by blockchain forensics firm Elliptic, the defending nation brought in more cryptocurrency donations than the invading force.
Ukraine Backers Sent Over $212 Million in Cryptocurrency
Since Russia’s attack on February 24, 2022, Elliptic has released an analysis of the evolution of cryptocurrency in the conflict. This research is based on data collected by the cryptanalysis agency over the past year.
The company stated that it was commemorating the anniversary of the invasion: “Many campaigns have sought to leverage core developments in the crypto ecosystem to aid their fundraising, from decentralized finance (DeFi) to crypto prepaid cards.” Digital money has been used to support numerous causes, including humanitarian and sanctioned groups.
Elliptic’s evidence shows that a large portion of the funds (212.1 million in crypto assets) went to support Ukraine. Anti-government organizations, Belarus allies, military and political allies of the Russian Federation, raised $0.7 million.
Pro-Russian teams have managed to raise about $4.8 million to back the Russian military and related militias. The report revealed that more than 10% of the donations came from illicit sources. According to the authors, darknet marketplaces, blacklisted entities, and stolen card suppliers should be taken into consideration.
Simultaneously, less than 2% of the cryptocurrency given to Ukraine was returned. It is known that since May 2022, pro-Russia activists have increased their funding, and in June they acquired more Bitcoin and Ether than Ukrainians.
Between the end of February and the end of September, pro-Russian entities were able to collect around $400,000 in cryptocurrency, responding to a TRM research. In July, blockchain intelligence agency Chainalysis revealed that 54 of these groups together held more than $2.2 million in crypto.
Ukraine’s Digital Minister Claims Most Military Suppliers Accepted Crypto
There were numerous crypto-funding initiatives initiated or supported by the Kiev government, who received $83.3 million in their own wallets. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) play a major role in the facilitation of crypto fundraising. Ukraine’s charity has received more than $78 million in donations – Elliptic noted that Russia’s attempts at imitating Ukraine’s failures in this area have been unsuccessful.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance UK’s The Crypto mile podcast, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Alex Bornyakov revealed that his country has been using crypto to buy military equipment and that 60% of the suppliers have agreed to cash payments. Ukraine has been offered necessary items such as helmets or bulletproof vests.
More than 100,000 people have sent cryptocurrency to Ukraine in response to the report. Bornyakov said donations can be made in a variety of ways – “from one dollar to hundreds of thousands of dollars.” He noted that Ukraine was in urgent need of instant assistance, and so it turned to cryptocurrency. “If we had used the traditional financial system, it would have taken us days,” he explained.
Do you think both sides will continue to rely on crypto donations to fund their military and humanitarian efforts? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
