Ukraine Buys Military Gear Worth $15M Using Crypto Donations

Quick take:

Ukraine has purchased military gear with $15 million from crypto donations
The supplies include bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, medical equipment, and military-grade food rations
Total crypto donations to Ukraine have exceeded $64.6 million
Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, is optimistic donations will hit $100 million this week

Ukraine has reportedly utilized $15 million worth of crypto donations to purchase various non-lethal military supplies which include bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, medical equipment, and military-grade food rations.

The update on the utilization of crypto donations was provided by Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Alex Bornyakov, during a Zoom interview from an undisclosed location within the country.

At the time of writing, total crypto donations towards the military and humanitarian effort in Ukraine have surpassed $64.6 million. One donation came in the form of a CryptoPunk NFT that sold for over $43,000 in 2021.

Donations to Ukraine have continued to increase with the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, optimistic that the funds drive will hit $100 million this week. He said:

The Crypto Fund of Ukraine raised $50M in crypto in a week to support #Ukraine. An incredible unity before Putin’s encroachment on freedom and democracy. Aiming for $100M this week. We WILL win!

At the same time, Vice Prime Minister Fedorov has been requesting several global companies to cease providing products and services to Russia as a way of pressuring President Putin to stop the war. He has so far sent requests to SAP, Oracle, Apple, Google, Netscout, Figma, Hitachi, Amazon and Microsoft, just to name a few.

Vice Prime Minister Fedorov has also requested UnionPay to halt its plans of providing an alternative payments platform in Russia after Visa and Mastercard suspended all services to the country. In his plea to UnionPay, he pointed out that ‘Russian money is bloody’ and that it helped ‘Russian missiles attack dwelling houses, kindergartens and hospitals in Ukraine and kill civilians.’

[Feature image courtesy of Unsplash.com]