Ukraine Spends $15M Ukraine has spent $ 15 million on donated cryptocurrencies for military equipment

 

Ukraine Spends $15M Ukraine has spent $ 15 million on donated cryptocurrencies for military equipment

As the flow of grants continues in the cryptocurrency, it has become clear how the Ukrainian government uses the funds.

Ukraine has spent $ 15 million on its crypto grants for combat equipment, including flak jackets, distributed on Friday, said Alex Borniakov, Ukraine's deputy minister for digital transformation.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation, formed two years ago to promote the country's IT industry and provide high-speed Internet access, has been able to find military suppliers for flak jackets, food, bandages, and night vision equipment in Europe and the United States. Not even two days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Although some providers accept cryptocurrencies, others only accept euros or dollars, for which some cryptocurrencies need to be converted into this fiat currency.

In a Zoom interview with Bloomberg, Bornakov said the government expects to receive twice as much (56.8 million) of crypto grants so far in the coming days. Most of the money donated came from Bitcoin and Ether. Instead, small amounts of Stablecoin have come in the form of NFTs including Tether, Polkadot (5.8 million), Solana, and even Cryptopunk. More than $ 200,000 for Julian Assange and F 1.86 million worth of NFT created by multidisciplinary artist Buck.

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“Most of the grants come from the people,” the minister said, while some companies are also moving forward. One of the donors is Aid for Ukraine, a fund aimed at converting cryptocurrencies into US dollars to be spent in Ukraine, with the help of FTX in the United States. The money will be converted into dollars for deposits in the Central Bank of Ukraine. The following section was started by Solana Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder, and Sergei Vasilchuk, CEO of crypto betting firm Everstek. Vasilchuk previously worked with the Ukrainian government to develop the central bank's digital currency.

Berniakob studied public administration at Columbia University and founded an advertising technology provider, among other startups. Despite Russia's continued aggression, the ministry is assisting the country's IT infrastructure to ensure the progress of the government's work. He continues his work in raising and using crypto funds.

NFT collection in progress

Borniakov said the ministry had listed two companies to form the NFT group, which could be available in less than two weeks to raise funds for Ukraine's ongoing defense. Whether and how NFT will be limited will be determined.

The ministry has no plans to sell cryptocurrency # 5364, which features an 8-bit image of a character wearing a blue bandana and smoking a cigarette, or any of the many NFTs received as a grant. CyrptoPunk was last sold in 2021 for $ 43,000 The department did not use it because it was not easy to sell "We will work with NFT a little later, focusing on the issues we can deal with now. There is no time to figure out how to transform it."

Many scammers take advantage

Scammers took advantage of this situation by targeting people who wanted to help Ukraine and revealing non-authentic addresses for sending money. On Saturday, February 26, 2022, the Ukrainian government issued a public call for crypto donations, urging Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin not to send money to users' addresses, saying it was not a fraudulent address. "As hostile as this information environment may seem, you need to be very careful."

However, grants continue to flow, perhaps eventually creating a real use case for cryptocurrencies when the banking system was unable to meet urgent needs. The time it takes to transfer Bitcoin or Ether is much less than the time required for a traditional remittance payment settlement.

Donated Crypto on Military Equipment:

As cryptocurrency donations continue to pour in, the Ukrainian government is being transparent about how it is using the funds.

Ukraine has spent $15 million of its crypto donations on combat gear, including bulletproof vests handed out on Friday, says Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation, formed two years ago to improve the country’s information technology industry and provide high-speed Internet access, has managed to find military suppliers in Europe and the US for bulletproof vests, food, bandages, and night vision equipment not even two days after the Russian incursion into Ukraine. While some providers have accepted cryptocurrencies, others only accept euros or dollars, requiring the conversion of some cryptocurrencies to these fiat currencies.

Bornyakov said on a Zoom interview with Bloomberg that the government expects to double the crypto donations received so far (56.8M) in the coming days. Most of the donated money came from Bitcoin and Ether. Rather, smaller amounts came in the form of stable coin Tether, Polkadot ($5.8 million), Solana, and even NFTs, including a CryptoPunk. worth over $200K and Julian Assange’s NFTs created by multidisciplinary artist Pak worth $1.86 million.

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The minister said that “most donations are coming from people”, while some companies are also stepping up. Taking into account the companies that have made donations, one of them is Aid for Ukraine, a fund that aims to convert cryptocurrencies into US dollars to spend in Ukraine, with the help of US-based exchange FTX. the fund will be converted into dollars for deposit in the central bank of Ukraine. The bottom was started by Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko and Sergey Vasylchuk, CEO of crypto betting firm Everstake. Vasylchuk had previously worked with the Ukrainian government to develop a Central Bank digital currency.

Birnyakob studied Public Administration at Columbia University and founded an ad technology provider, among other startups. The ministry is supporting the country’s information technology infrastructure to ensure the progress of the government’s work, even as the Russian attack continues. He also continues his work of collecting and using crypto funds.

NFT collection in the process

Bornyakov said that the ministry has enlisted two companies to create an NFT collection, which may be available in less than two weeks to raise funds for the continued defense of Ukraine. Whether and how NFTs will be limited is yet to be established.

The ministry has no plans to sell CryptoPunk #5364, which shows an 8-bit image of a character wearing a blue bandana and smoking a cigarette, or any of the many NFTs it received as donations. The CyrptoPunk was last sold for $43,000 in 2021. The ministry has not used it because selling it has not been easy. “We’re going to work with NFT a bit later, focusing on things we can deal with right now. There is no time to figure out how to convert them.”

Many scammers take advantage

Scammers have taken advantage of this situation by targeting people who want to help Ukraine, posting inauthentic addresses for people to send funds. On Saturday, February 26, 2022, the Ukrainian government issued a call to the public for crypto donations, prompting Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to impulse users do not to send funds to addresses without making sure it is not a scammer’s address. “This information environment is as hostile as it sounds, exercise extreme vigilance.”

However, the donations continued to pour in, perhaps finally creating a real use case for cryptocurrencies when the banking system is unable to meet urgent needs. The time it takes to transfer bitcoin or ether is much less than the time required for traditional remittance payments to settle.

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