28 Feb 2022
Crypto donations are pouring in to support Ukraine
Thousands of people globally are donating millions worth of cryptocurrencies to support Ukraine. Have we underestimated the power of using cryptocurrencies for fundraising?
On February 24th, the Ukrainian NGO "Come Back Alive" started raising crypto. Donations poured in, and by February 25th, they had already raised more than $4 million.The Ukrainian NGO's crypto fundraising success must have inspired the Ukrainian Government, which started raising crypto on February 26th, posting Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses on Twitter.Ukraine is one of the strongest crypto adopters globally, proved by its 4th rank in Chainalysis 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index, and the Ukrainian Government has historically been open towards crypto. Still, it's unique for a government to plead for crypto donations.Using crypto for fundraising has proved to be straightforward, both for the donator and the receiver. There are no middlemen, so the receiver saves fees, receives the funds faster, and can be 100% certain that the funds will not be confiscated by intermediaries who disagree with the cause.So far, more than $24 million of crypto has been donated to Ukraine, but this number is likely an underestimation since countless smaller NGOs are collecting funds.