The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announced Monday that it has launched the official “Aid For Ukraine” website to raise funds in support of the Ukrainian armed forces and humanitarian aid programs in the fight against Russia. The crypto donation platform is in partnership with staking service provider Everstake and cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Mykhailo Fedorov, vice prime minister of Ukraine, tweeted Monday confirming that the official website where anyone around the world can make cryptocurrency donations to Ukraine has gone live.
The new donation website describes, “Aid For Ukraine is cooperating with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX which converts crypto funds received into fiat and sends the donations to the National Bank of Ukraine,” elaborating:
This marks the first-ever instance of a cryptocurrency exchange directly cooperating with a public financial entity to provide a conduit for crypto donations.
The Aid For Ukraine website lists crypto addresses as well as bank account information for the government of Ukraine for donation. Donors can send several cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), tether (USDT), polkadot (DOT), solana (SOL), dogecoin (DOGE), and monero (XMR). The Ukrainian government also accepts fiat donations in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, and CAD.
At the time of writing, the donation site indicates that over $50 million have been raised by the community.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine further explained that the funds raised will be spent on military equipment as well as “informational counteraction to Russian propaganda” and a “global communication campaign on true events in Ukraine.”
The funds will also be used in “cybersecurity and digital infrastructure recovery, providing additional protection and migration of registers, [and the] purchase of technical special equipment and facilities,” the ministry noted.
Earlier this month, Alex Bornyakov, Ukraines deputy minister of digital transformation, revealed that his government has spent $15 million in donated cryptocurrency on military supplies, including bulletproof vests.