Binance Donates US$10 Million Cryptocurrency To Ukraine

Binance makes a donation to Ukraine. (Photo; Kanchanara - Unsplash)

JAKARTA – Cryptocurrencies have become a new way of raising funds and collecting donations to Ukraine. This is because cryptocurrencies have a number of advantages over banks and traditional money transfer methods, which are considered slow, expensive, and often limited to a certain amount.

With cryptocurrencies, sending is easier, faster, and unlimited. Therefore, the Ukrainian government has asked the crypto community for support on social media in recent weeks.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transformation Digtal Mykhailo Fedorov uploaded a Twitter post containing three wallet addresses or crypto addresses for accepting donations in crypto on Saturday last week.

Stand with the people of UkraineNow accepting cryptocurrency donations. Ethereum. Bitcoin and Tether (USDTtrc20)BTC — 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1PETH — 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14USDT (trc20) — TEFccmfQ38cZS1DTZVhsxKVDfCy8Y6

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

The crypto community answered the call. It was recorded that donations almost touched 19 million US dollars or IDR 272 billion in crypto that had been sent to Ukraine. The donation has been going on since the Russian military invaded Ukraine last week.

Based on a Reuters report, on February 27 last, donations touched 8 million US dollars or Rp. 114.7 billion. Whereas blockchain analytics company Elliptic has updated on February 27, 23:50 UTC. The current total received by the Ukrainian government is 18.9 million US dollars, most of which came during the last two days of Fedorov's request.

Donations in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Stablecoins

Reporting from Cryptopotato, Elliptic breaks down donations by crypto asset, revealing “the majority of donations received to date have been in Bitcoin and Ether, although US Dollar stablecoins contribute a significant proportion.”

More than half, or 56.4 percent, has been donated in Bitcoin, 31.8 percent is Ethereum, while 10.9 percent is stablecoins and less than one percent is other altcoins. According to Chinese crypto outlet Wu Blockchain, the founder of Polkadot is ready to donate… if there is a DOT address available.

The company added that cryptocurrency donations to Ukrainian volunteers and hacking groups have also increased since Russia launched its invasion on Thursday.

Binance Donates $10 Million to Abandoned Families in Ukraine

The world's largest crypto exchange Binance has joined the movement with its own $10 million donation. The company announced the initiative on February 27, stating that:

“Donations will be shared between key intergovernmental organizations and non-profit organizations already on the ground, including UNICEF, UNHCR, United Nations Refugee Agency, iSans and People in Need, to help support neglected children and families in Ukraine and its neighboring countries. ”

Binance has set up a portal called the Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund. At the time of writing, the Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund has received 156 BTC worth approximately US$5.8 million from 214 donors. Binance stated that they have pledged over 16,000 BNB tokens for the purpose.