Global crypto crash devalues Ukraine’s crypto fundraise

The global cryptocurrency crash has left Ukraine’s crypto fundraise short of nearly $10 million.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s government used social media to ask for crypto donations that would be used to fund the country during the war. Wallets were set up on the country’s Kuna Exchange among others.

On 19 March, the Aid for Ukraine fund said that the country had raised over $60 million worth of crypto, however, two months later, the total raised was worth $51.5 million.

There are two major use cases for the cryptocurrency donated to Ukraine. The first is humanitarian aid and the second are funds that use the digital assets to pay for goods in Europe or the United States.

Cryptocurrencies have been experiencing a sharp decline since the beginning of May with bitcoin (BTC), the number one cryptocurrency by market capitalization, losing around 25% of its value, down from $39,698.37 on 4 May to $29763.54 on the 25^th.

Other digital assets followed suit. Ethereum (ETH) is down nearly 33% since the beginning of May and Solana (SOL) dipped by around 47%.

Ukraine has always been among the top five countries in terms of the number of crypto users per capita, the founder of Kuna Exchange, Michael Chobanian, said in an interview with The Verge. The country’s president Volodymyr Zelenksyy even signed a virtual assets bill into law that would recognize cryptocurrency as an asset in Ukraine once the war is over.

The government has already managed to spend around $45 million from the digital assets raised by the Aid for Ukraine fund on equipment for the country’s military, prior to the market’s crash, Reuters reported citing Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Alex Bornyakov.

Zelenskyy on Monday participated (virtually) at the World Economic Forum, currently being held in Davos, Switzerland, asking world leaders to impose “maximum” sanctions and a “complete withdrawal from the Russian market” as fast as possible.

Note, cryptocurrency CFD trading is restricted in the UK for all retail clients.