How the crypto market demonstrates a new quality of global mutual support, actively helping in the fight against the aggressor
With the outbreak of the war, faced with the “black swan factor”, the booming cryptocurrency market unexpectedly fell. If in November 2021, the total capitalization of the crypto market jumped from $750 billion to $3 trillion (only in Ukraine last year the industry showed a fivefold growth), and the value of bitcoin reached its historical maximum ($67,000), then six months later it has tripled, and the capitalization the market fell to $900 billion. But rapid collapses and rises are by no means rare for the crypto market, and therefore analysts of crypto monitoring platforms see such a decline as a positive moment for the long-term viability of its ecosystem
According to a joint report by the analytical companies Dove Metrics and Messari, in the first six months of 2022, 1,199 investment rounds brought an amount equivalent to $30 billion in the field of digital assets. The most rounds were conducted in the spheres of NFT and web3, and the lion’s share of funds – more than $10 billion – invested in credit crypto companies.
Paradoxically, the full-scale aggression against Ukraine clearly demonstrated the potential of the cryptocurrency market: the freedom of the digital world, the speed and security of cross-border transfers, the rejection of intermediaries, and the easy overcoming of the barriers of traditional financial systems. Over the past six months, the crypto market has offered a trend in digital currency philanthropy, as well as a new financial mechanism for international organizations – a crypto fund.
The basis of global security
The fact that the global cryptocurrency market, in a successful tandem with the Ukrainian state, has demonstrated a new quality of global mutual aid and support for the country’s army at war, its rear and refugees, is a great merit of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and its head, Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov . From the first hours of the full-scale invasion, Fedorov was so active on his social networks and did it so creatively that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite Internet terminals turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg.
On February 26, Ukraine’s official Twitter account announced that it is ready to accept donations in cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). The donations just poured in – the very next day, an anonymous donor deposited an amount equivalent to $1 million into the cryptowallet of the Ukrainian government with one bitcoin transaction. On March 1, Ukraine opened the Polkadot (DOT) wallet – in response to a tweet by the founder of this blockchain project, Gavin Wood, in which he promised to personally donate $5 million to our country if a suitable cryptocurrency address appears. Wood fulfilled his promise – he transferred 298 thousands of DOT worth $5.7 million to this address.
Already by March 11, Ukraine received donations in the form of 120,000 crypto-assets for a total amount of $63.8 million, of which $54.4 million went to Bitcoin, Ethereum, TRON, Polkadot, Dogecoin and Solana addresses. Most of the donations were made in bitcoins and ethereum. Not only crypto-assets were sacrificed – NFTs, each worth approximately $300, were also sent to Ukraine’s Ethereum account. According to the Ministry of Statistics, most of the donations amounted to significant amounts and came from Ukrainians from all over the world and entrepreneurs who do business with Ukraine. Fedorov is credited with the phrase: “Now even a meme can support our army” – the deputy prime minister meant the famous Dogecoin.
The Everstake platform donated $10 million to the needs of the Ukrainian army, of which $3.4 million went to Aid for Ukraine – for the purchase of first-aid kits, dry rations, body armor, drones and fuel for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The remaining $6.6 million was distributed among other volunteer organizations, among them – the charity fund of the Kyiv School of Economics, volunteer Tata Kepler, the initiative of Solomiya Bobrovska, Peoplesproject.com, Palianytsia.org, Eyes of Army and others. These funds are used to purchase thermal imaging cameras, armored vehicles and drones, as well as to help refugees.
“Volunteer practice quickly showed that purchases abroad are the fastest and most convenient to make with the help of cryptocurrencies,” notes crypto market expert Maria Martynenko. – And then the trend of currency philanthropy became global: many international organizations were convinced of the superiority of digital currencies and the need to own crypto wallets in order to accept donations in stablecoins. The Red Cross began to accept donations in cryptocurrency, and UNICEF launched a new financial mechanism for working with cryptocurrencies – a crypto fund.”
Mykhailo Chobanyan, the founder of the KUNA crypto exchange and the president of the Ukrainian Blockchain Association, reported that more than half of all donations received by Ukrainian foundations in cryptocurrency were spent in cryptocurrency: for example, 500,000 food kits were purchased in the United States. The company’s website states its position: “We call on all Kryptans to help the Ukrainian military, who are protecting us in the hottest spots right now. Every donation literally saves lives: first aid kits, body armor, and military equipment are purchased with this money. Together, we have already raised more than $70 million, so we continue and bring our joint victory closer!”
Cryptophilanthropy is currently beneficial to Ukraine from two points of view: first, transactions take place in a matter of minutes, and this is a huge advantage of the crypto market over the traditional banking system; secondly, the ease and transparency of making a donation, as well as the absence of third parties when performing transactions from decentralized wallets, encourages patrons to further help our country fight against the aggressor. Crypto market participants say: digital currency is now more than just an asset. Currently, this is the fastest and most guaranteed way to provide life-saving assistance.
Crypto airbag
Helping the army that opposes the aggressor is not the only thing that the global crypto market can do for our country. As statistics show, it has been showing rapid growth and development in the Ukrainian segment for the past few years. Data from Global Crypto for the past year are clear: the annual turnover of the crypto market in Ukraine exceeded $8 billion, the volume of transactions reached $100 million per day, every eighth Ukrainian (approximately 5.5 million people) had cryptocurrency. In the ranking of the global index of the use of cryptoassets in 2022, compiled by the analytical company Chainalysis, Ukraine took third place.
The CEO of Binance in Ukraine, Kyrylo Khomyakov, explained this paradox: “For the cryptocurrency market, the war was a shock, which was transformed into a significant increase in operations. In times of upheaval, people traditionally choose a protective asset for themselves, and cryptocurrency has become such an asset in Ukraine.”
Therefore, it is not surprising that crypto exchanges and digital platforms have thought about helping not only charitable foundations and volunteers, but also individuals, primarily the least protected groups of the population. Already in the first days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Binance crypto exchange transferred $10 million to Ukraine and created the Binance Charity Foundation, completely rebuilding the company’s marketing policy to support users and citizens in need of help.
When the number of refugees from Ukraine exceeded 5 million, Binance initiated changes in the corporate classification, according to which Ukraine finally moved from the CIS region to the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region. The idea was that mothers with children who left war zones would receive cryptocurrency Binance cards. But since the Law “On Virtual Assets” signed by the President of Ukraine in March of this year, which will allow Ukrainian banks to open accounts for crypto companies and Ukrainians to protect their savings in virtual assets, will come into effect only after amendments are made to the Tax Code, crypto cards for refugees have so far been opened in Europe.
“Restrictions of the National Bank of Ukraine, introduced in connection with the military situation, made it difficult to transfer funds from Ukraine to EU countries, so cryptocurrencies have become for many Ukrainians the fastest and most convenient way to replenish their wallets,” says Maria Martynenko. – In the countries of the European Union, they can use crypto-wallets without restrictions, as well as issue physical cards free of charge, which make it possible to pay for goods and services both in fiat money and cryptocurrency.”
In addition, the most vulnerable groups of refugees were given the opportunity to register and receive financial assistance from Binance and other crypto companies – equivalent to $75 per month per person for three months. 5,000 refugees received this help, including single mothers suffering from chronic diseases and representatives of ethnic minorities (the crypto exchange team launched a field verification project).
Currently, Binance is working on the launch of cryptocurrency cards in Ukraine, which can be used without restrictions, is preparing several partner programs that will allow citizens to pay for goods with cryptocurrency, and is also conducting a joint project with the Ministry of Digital Affairs to retrain internally displaced persons – IT Generation. The main task of the crypto exchange and the entire blockchain cluster, which works in connection with the Ministry of Digital, is to ensure that as many funds as possible are returned to Ukraine.