Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a tragedy that will not be forgotten for its ruthlessness, lack of mercy and Russia's shameful tactics. However, in the most unfortunate times, some benefits have come to the world of cryptography in the form of adoption.
Discussing the same in an interview with Bloomberg, the founder of Ukraine's largest crypto exchange, KUNA, Michael Chobanian, said how much the crypto scene has changed in the past month.
Ukraine and cryptography
Michael has been an advocate of all things crypto for more than eight years. Being a full-time crypto actor since 2013, Michael soon faced government raids and other problems.
And to prevent the same, he headed the Blockchain Association of Ukraine as president to protect crypto businesses. However, the most significant changes in Ukraine's crypto space only came at the beginning of this war.
According to Michael, KUNA was used to handling $ 1 to $ 4 million in volume every day before the war. But since February 24, a lot has changed, and cryptography has become a preeminent and essential element in warfare efforts.
Today, the once primary payment method, USD and cash, has become useless.
“Considering that you can't really move cash out of the country and you can't keep it safely, nobody really wants that. Now the most valuable form of money in Ukraine is crypto. Everyone wants crypto because this is the fastest, most flexible, easiest and least bureaucratic way to store and spend your money. Crypto is the new king of money in Ukraine ”.
The amount of donations Ukraine has received in crypto (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) has funded the war efforts with more than 5.500 body armor, 500 helmets, night vision goggles and medicines.
As a result, instead of joining the military, Michael became a crypto banker for the government. He stated:
“I am in charge of raising, raising funds and storing crypto, and also trading crypto for crypto and crypto for fiat, opening bank accounts for intermediaries or for the government, and then buying whatever is required by the Ministry of Defense. We also find vendors who are willing to sell us humanitarian goods, or helmets, or bulletproof vests for crypto. So I'm in charge of this virtual government crypto fund ”.
The efforts of the Crypto community
Ukraine has raised over $ 100 million in crypto donations to aid the war efforts over the past month. This includes cryptocurrency donations, NFT sales, and more.
In addition to the same, as reported by FXEmpire, the Ukrainian government has also launched the NFT War Museum, the proceeds of which would go to help the government.
While on the other hand, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, visited the countries, appealing for support to evade Western sanctions.
On a visit to India today, Sergei stated that India and Russia are friends, appreciating the country's non-partisan views, and also added that moving forward:
"It is absolutely clear that more and more transactions will be done through this system using national currencies, bypassing the dollar, euro and other currencies."
