After Russia launched a large-scale war on Ukraine, cryptocurrency donations flowed into a charity organization that gives support to Ukrainian soldiers. Bitcoin has already raised more than $5 million. Furthermore, the group’s Patreon funding page has been deactivated.
After Russia Invaded Ukraine, Crypto Donations Skyrocketed
After Russia launched a large-scale operation against Ukraine, Come Back Alive, one of the main non-governmental organizations (NGOs) offering support to Ukraine’s military, received over $5 million in Bitcoin donations. The Kyiv-based organization, which was founded in 2014, provides military equipment, training services, and medical supplies to Ukrainian soldiers.
After Russia started a full-scale military strike on Ukraine on Thursday, donations to the BTC address mentioned on the organization’s website skyrocketed. The wallet address has received 131.78144015 BTC at the time of writing.
From Feb. 24 to late Feb. 25, 2,207 donations totaling 126.04304091 BTC were received, according to a review of all donations to the address. The donations collected since Feb. 24 are worth more than $5 million, depending on the current Bitcoin price of $39,676.51.
On Feb. 23, the wallet only received 1.60976481 BTC (76 donations), while on Feb. 22, it only received 0.42272864 BTC (25 donations).Tom Robinson, the chief scientist, and co-founder of the blockchain analytics platform Elliptic tweeted on Thursday:
Donations to the Ukrainian armed forces in cryptocurrency are on the rise.
With the implicit approval of governments, cryptocurrency is increasingly being used to crowdfund war.
Elliptic also looked into the donations that Come Back Alive had received. According to the business, the NGO got over $675,000 in bitcoin on February 24 and had already received more than $3.4 million by 9:30 a.m. on February 25. “This brings the amount the group has raised in just 24 hours to nearly $4 million,” the firm noted, noting that a single donor gave over $3 million (80 BTC).
In 2018, the group Comes Back Alive began accepting bitcoin donations. According to Elliptic, BTC donations have been rising recently, with approximately $200K collected in the second half of 2021. The platform published a report earlier this month revealing that donations of digital assets to Ukrainian NGOs and volunteer groups increased by 900 percent last year.
The Fundraising Page for Come Back Alive has been Removed from Patreon
Meanwhile, the site has taken down Come Back Alive’s Patreon fundraising page. Come Back Alive Director Taras Chmut told CNBC in an interview that the group had been getting tiny amounts from its Patreon website for several months before receiving over $300,000 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
When he went to withdraw the funds to pay for equipment, he discovered that his organization’s Patreon page had been taken down. He notified the platform, which stated that it was investigating the matter.
A spokesman for Patreon told :
Regardless of the reason, Patreon does not accept any campaigns that include violence or the purchase of military weaponry.
“We have individuals dying because they don’t have body armor,” Chmut said, adding that Ukraine is a poor country and that Come Back Alive has aided soldiers in getting the equipment they require.
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