Ukraine Denies Global Narratives That Stated Receivable Donations From FTX Through The US Democratic Party

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation denied it was dragged into the FTX problem. (Photo; Doc. Unsplash)

JAKARTA – The collapse of the leading crypto exchange, FTX, a few weeks ago has become a global public spotlight. The crypto trading company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried is also associated with a number of other parties outside the crypto industry including the US Democratic Party and Ukrainian donations.

However, Ukraine denied the global narrative spread on social media where it received funding from FTX through a party in the US. This denial was conveyed by the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Oleksandr (Alex) Bornyakov.

He also dismissed claims that funds sent to support his country had been invested in the FTX crypto trading platform. The crypto exchange is currently in bankruptcy proceedings.

The rumors spread on social media last week with several commenters linking the alleged investment in FTX to donations made by the troubled coin trading platform to the Democratic Party in the United States.

Since the Russian military began its invasion in February, the Ukrainian government and voluntary organizations have relied heavily on foreign aid to fund their defense and humanitarian efforts. Millions of dollars have been raised through cryptocurrency donations.

A dedicated portal, Aid For Ukraine, was launched in March to raise digital funds. According to its website and Twitter account, more than 60 million US dollars, a figure announced in May, in various digital currencies has been received, including more than 600 BTC, 10.000 ETH and 15 million USDT. The current balance of the BTC address provided by this initiative is a little over 0.08 BTC.

According to a Bitcoin.com News report, the foundation has three main crypto partners: staking service provider Everstake, FTX, and Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange, Kuna. FTX was hired to convert donated digital assets into fiat currency, Bornyakov explained in a tweet posted on Monday. He also said the "entire narrative... makes no sense."

“A fundraising crypto foundation AidForUkraine used FTX to convert crypto donations to fiat in March. The Ukrainian government has never invested any funds into FTX. The whole narrative that Ukraine allegedly invests in FTX, which donates money to the Democrats is bullshit, frankly️,” said Bornyakov, November 14, 2022.

Aid For Ukraine's most recent report on how the money was spent, published in July, showed that most of the cryptocurrency raised was used to acquire military equipment, including rifle scopes and thermal imagers, radio communication kits, armored vests and helmets, clothing and rations. other fields, as well as fuel. The global anti-war media campaign has been funded with over $5 million.

Studies by blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis and TRM Labs reveal that pro-Russian groups have also received donations through crypto exchanges and managed to raise millions of dollars in digital coins used to support the Russian side in military conflicts.