Ukraine expands crypto donation programme, collecting over $33 million

WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Ukraine is expanding the list of cryptocurrencies it will be accepting for donation amid an outpouring of support and looming humanitarian crisis after an invasion by Russian forces.

About US$24.6 million (S$33.4 million) through 26,000 crypto donations has been collected so far by Ukraine and non-governmental organisations supporting its military, according to blockchain-analytics firm Elliptic.

The country will now also accept Polkadot's DOT, the 11th-biggest cryptocurrency by market value, in addition to Bitcoin, Ether and Tether, according to a statement on a government Twitter account Tuesday (March 1).

More tokens will be also accepted soon, the post said.

Since Ukraine posted wallets soliciting money a couple days ago, it's received about US$8.2 million in a Bitcoin wallet and US$7.1 million in an Ether wallet - almost all of which has subsequently been transferred out - according to data from Blockchain.com.

Ukraine has tweeted about a possible crypto airdrop - or promotional event that typically involves giving away free coins - saying "an airdrop has not been confirmed yet".

It wasn't immediately clear what sort of airdrop the account was referring to, nor any details about what or who it might involve.

Bitcoin is up another 7.1 per cent to US$44,600 on Tuesday amid speculation cryptocurrencies will gain favour in the wake of sanctions against Russia.

Ether advanced 7.4 per cent and DOT is up 15 per cent over the past 24 hours as of 9.15 am in New York, according to pricing from CoinGecko.

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