How Ukraine is mastering cryptocurrencies against the backdrop of a Russian special operation

On the second day after the start of the Russian special operation, the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mikhail Fedorov, instructed his deputy Alexander Bornyakov to create official government electronic wallets that could accept payments in cryptocurrency. Three weeks later, on March 16, 2022, the law on the legalization of cryptocurrencies in the country was signed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The document, which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada a week before the start of the military operation, defines the legal status of assets, their classification and ownership.

The Ukrainian authorities have been engaged in the development of the crypto market before - in 2021, the country ranked fourth in the world in terms of the implementation of cryptocurrencies among its citizens (according to the Crypto Research Group, which calculates the corresponding global Chainalysis index). After the start of the Russian military special operation, Kyiv began to act more actively in this direction, using the money received through cryptocurrencies for the country's defense needs.

Since the outbreak of hostilities, the Ukrainian government has attracted the equivalent of more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies (according to Tradingplatforms.com). A large share of the money raised was spent on defense needs, part of the amount went to social media campaigns.

At the same time, about 20% of the funds raised were spent directly in cryptocurrency.

In March 2022, the FTX bitcoin exchange and the Ukrainian staking platform Everstake, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, launched a special donation site that accepts payments in more than ten cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, tether, solana and dogecoin. The conversion of cryptocurrency donations into fiat currencies takes place on the FTX platform, from there the money is sent to the NATIONAL BANK of Ukraine.