It probably won’t be long before Russians start using cryptocurrencies to mitigate sanctions upon the country as a result of the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, but NGOs and volunteer groups in Ukraine have already raised over $35 million worth of cryptos to support the country.
According to a recent update from the Elliptic Threat Intel which is tracking these donations, most of these contributions were sent this week. One single donor – most probably a government or corporation – sent over $3 million worth of crypto in a single transaction to one NGO.
The latest development means crypto could as well become part of the military and social funding in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Return Alive Foundation, one of the NGO charities involved in the fundraising, funds military equipment, training services, and medical supplies in the country. However, it was today delisted and suspended from the Patreon content platform for raising money to fund wars.
However, crypto donations are still being raised by this and other NGOs. Most people are sending money in sympathetic support to Ukraine in the context that it has been invaded by Russia. The NGOs aren’t receiving donations in cryptocurrencies only, however – a lot more is being wired to them through banks and legacy systems.
But Bitcoin and cryptos are proving more helpful in such transactions for the speedy nature of transactions. The recent development also signifies the huge advantage of cryptocurrency in helping overcome cross-border conflicts in a speedy manner.
In the recent past, more NGOs have been seeing the light, accepting crypto donations in addition to fiat currencies. Last year, global crypto donations to charities increased by 1,558% compared to the previous year.
But even more to the future, crypto might have a greater role and use case – that of helping any government to transact globally without any restrictions from others. Or the citizens in an inflation-hit country turning to crypto to save themselves from hefty local currency devaluations. And there are many examples pointing to that.
After Venezuela turned its back on fiat to state-backed crypto called petro, Bitcoin, other cryptos, and the dollar, its digital economy and peer-to-peer payment systems have never been the same, especially in 2021. Venezuela is now seventh after in the Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index 2021. It is also a top 10 country in terms of crypto mining.
The country is also experiencing a crazy growth in play-to-earn and NFT games. According to Heritage, the country actually had slightly positive economic growth last year. A deceleration in the growth of consumer prices saw the inflation rate reducing from 2,959.8% to 686.4%. Although much of that has happened through the national dollarization of the economy, for the ordinary citizen who turns to Bitcoin, that dollarization happens through crypto trading platforms.
