Ukraine received $225 million in crypto donations to aid defense against Russia’s invasion, outperforming Russia’s much smaller crypto fundraising efforts.
The full-scale Russian invasion last year incited a wave of cryptocurrency donations in favor of Ukraine, raising a staggering $225 million, according to a fresh report from blockchain intelligence agency Crystal Blockchain. This sum, while significant, only represents a small slice of the entire contribution pie, with fiat donations swelling into billions.
How Crypto Backed Ukraine’s Defense
The crypto windfall played a key role in bolstering Ukraine’s war efforts, funding purchases of vital military supplies including weaponry, ammunition, and medical equipment. In June last year, the cumulative crypto donations stood at $135 million. This increased by $90 million in a year, highlighting the sustained support for Ukraine within the global crypto community.
Nevertheless, the momentum of the monthly donations seemed to have plateaued in the latter part of 2022 and through 2023, with the figures not crossing the $10 million threshold since May last year. The peak of these donations came in March 2022, right at the onset of the conflict, when the global community united to help Ukraine counter Russia’s assault.
Crypto Donors Lean Towards Humanitarian Causes
Interestingly, humanitarian causes drew more support from crypto donors compared to the military fundraisers. As per the data compiled by Crystal, humanitarian-oriented Ukrainian funds accumulated around $134 million in crypto, while the military-focused campaigns raised $91 million.
The bulk of the donations were made in the form of Tether (USDT), totaling $83 million. Ethereum (ETH) was a close second with $79 million, followed by Bitcoin (BTC) donations amounting to $41 million. The remaining donations were sourced from various other cryptocurrencies including Binance USD (BUSD), Polkadot’s DOT, and more.
Russia’s Military Crypto Fundraising
Meanwhile, Russian military and paramilitary outfits have also been capitalizing on cryptocurrencies to generate funding from Russian nationals and overseas sympathizers. These fundraising activities have, however, remained largely under the radar.
The relatively covert nature of these efforts, coupled with widespread international condemnation of Russia’s actions, likely led to a significantly smaller fundraising haul. As per Crystal’s findings, crypto donations to the Russian military have only reached $2 million. Other estimations suggest larger figures, with Chainalysis reporting $5.4 million in donations to Russian military and propaganda outlets and Binance identifying over $7.2 million in similar contributions.