The cryptocurrency exchanges FTX and Kuna, as well as the staking platform Everstake, have teamed up with Ukrainian government officials to develop a crypto donation website for anyone who wants to aid the country.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announced on Monday that the government had launched Aid for Ukraine, a platform that accepts donations in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), Monero (XMR), Icon (ICX), and Neo (NEO) “to support people in their fight for freedom.”
At the time of publication, users had sent more than $48 million in cryptocurrency, accounting for around 24% of the platform’s $200 million targets.
The monies will be paid to Ukraine’s National Bank and used to support the country’s military forces and humanitarian relief programs with “ammunition and essentials.” Donations of various currencies in fiat currency to Ukraine’s central bank are also accepted.
“Aid For Ukraine demonstrates how the global crypto community and traditional banking systems can collaborate,” stated Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs.
“Crypto donations to the DAO are saved and managed on-chain, then transferred to FTX, a centralized exchange, where they are exchanged for fiat USD paid to the Ukrainian government via SWIFT.”
Donations to Ukraine
Using its Twitter account, the platform consolidated the list of wallet addresses previously released by the Ukrainian government. However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some cryptocurrency companies have indicated that they will donate to the country.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club has offered to match a $1 million donation in ETH made by Kraken to each user who registered an account in the country before March 9.
According to reports, more than $108 million has been donated to Ukraine by various groups and government-run wallets as of March 9. The money is intended for Ukrainians at a time when Russia is undergoing economic hardship as a result of US and EU sanctions.
In the previous two weeks, many private companies have severed connections with the country, including Goldman Sachs, Visa, and Mastercard.
