The Blockchain Community Response to the Ukraine Conflict
Crypto is playing an important role in the Ukrainian conflict, with users across the globe stepping up to help in ways big and small. At the GDF Emergency Summit on Sanctions, GBBC CEO and GDF Board Member Sandra Ro shared some of the encouraging stories of the crypto community’s response to the emerging crisis.
Fundraising
Crypto has been used to raise funds in previous conflicts and emergencies, most recently in Afghanistan and Lebanon. However, this instance is unique in that it is being coordinated by the Ukrainian government, directly asking for help from the community. This instance is unique because of the public-private cooperation unfolding in public, online forums such as Twitter.
The government of Ukraine is actively working with the crypto community, including household names such as Vitalik Buterin. So far, the equivalent of over $88 million has been raised (at time of writing), with the number (in USD terms) continuing to rise. The government has official addresses in ETH, bitcoin, tether, and polkadot. Gavin Wood has just donated $5 million in dot. We are hearing that more currencies are coming online.
The initiative involves not only the Vice Prime Minister – who is also minister of Digital Transformation, but also the Central Bank, the Ministry of Health, and a number of others. The government had announced that they were looking to do an airdrop. This has since been changed to the issuance of an NFT.
We are seeing a precedent being set for how quickly the community can mobilize to work with the government.
The funds are being used to buy medical supplies, as well as purchasing protective military gear such as helmets and bulletproof vests. Groups who have highly coordinated lists of supply needs are connected with crypto groups on the ground working with the government to convert crypto into local currency or dollars to purchase the items.
One fifth of a fund estimated to be around $10 million, has already deployed to purchase items. We are seeing some bottleneck in converting to fiat currency. Nevertheless, the mobilization is unprecedented.
Decentralized Armies
The Digital Transformation Minister tweeted on {DATE} that they were organizing an IT Army of volunteers. This started with a handful of players, but over six days grey to 272 000 people, across the world.
The IT army is organized through Telegram, with hundreds of channels breaking out to discuss specific topics. It involves people at every level – from hackers to fact checkers, those flagging disinformation posts or accounts, or even ensuring that all Ukrainian ministers – including the Defense Minister – had a Twitter Blue Tick.
Verification of Data
Multiple DAOs have been set up, including the Ukrainian DAO. One project that has been discussed centers around ensuring that videos, images, and content throughout the conflict is verified and recorded. The DAO is looking to record the data, videos, and images on blockchain for use as evidence in the International Criminal Court.
