As the Russian invasions against Ukraine today enter the fifth week, the country continues amassing donations using NFTs, showcasing the trustless nature of decentralized finance (DeFi) at its best.
The recent invasion of Ukraine has pushed the entire world into a state of uncertainty, turmoil, and geopolitical tensions. These invasions have also attracted heavy volatility in the global financial markets, causing immense losses for millions of investors.
Furthermore, way has made several giant payments providers to terminate their services in Russia, including Ripple, which recently ended SWIFT messaging services for leading Russian banks.
The move has already attracted more financial impacts in other economies that have strong trade ties with Russia. In the same spirit of solidarity with Ukraine, payment giant Visa and MasterCard have also halted their services in Russia, adding more untold consequences for interoperability of their payment systems and everyday citizen who rely on them are facing harsh times.
But interestingly, amid all those financial uncertainties, digital assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are playing a significant role in relentlessly mitigating the fallout from the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine.
Ukraine DAO
Earlier this month, Russian activist Nadya Nadezhda Tolokonnikova partnered with digital artist Trippy Labs and artist collective PleasrDAO to create a non-profit decentralized autonomous organization Ukraine DAO. The joint team managed to sell more than 10,000 NFTs of the Ukrainian flag on the Ethereum network, alongside a unique NFT of the flag. Meanwhile, Ukraine DAO has successfully amassed over $6.7 million to support defense forces.
At the time, the Ukrainian flag artworks sold for 2258 Ether (ETH) through Party Bid, representing $6.7 million. All the proceeds from the NFT sale went to a non-profit organization, Come Back Alive, to help the Ukrainian military and volunteer fighters.
Save Ukrainian Children Initiative
Sadly, the Russian invasion has already left over 7.5 million children in Ukraine in the middle of conflict, risking displacement, trauma, prolonged interruption of education, and loss of many family incomes. In that context, the non-profit organization “Save the Children” continues amassing donations to help the families worst impacted by these conflicts.
Fortunately, the organization has successfully raised over $19 million, including crypto donations. The organization currently accepts more than 60 types of digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Cardano (ADA), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Holy Water NFTs
More than 500 Ukrainian artists have teamed up to create a new NFT collection sold via Holy Water to raise money for war victims in Ukraine. These artists include the most prominent galleries in the country, including Port Agency, Izolyatsia, and Ugallery. The NFT collection will start bidding at 0.08 ETH, hoping to raise at least $1 million.
Waone Interesni Kazki NFTs
Vladimir Manzhos, a renowned Ukrainian Artist, has announced that he will be selling some of his most NFT paintings, featuring surrealist and Ukrainian folk tales. According to Manzhos, also known as Waone Interesni Kazki, 50% of the money raised will go towards defense and medical supplies via Ukrainian war charities.
Manzhos aims to raise over $7,000 from NFTs paintings such as “The Seed of a Good Idea,” “Beta to Alpha Transition,” and “Prisoned Mind.” Each of these NFTs will sell for $290.
ArtWARks NFTs
Ukrainian patriots, including IT entrepreneurs, art historians, and media creators, launched an NFT project to raise funds for charitable aid toward civilians and Ukrainian defense forces. The project has 57 ArtWaRks listed on NFT marketplace OpenSea, with each sold at 0.07 ETH or $182.
The NFT project features notable heads, including Vladimir Borodyansky, former Minister of Cultural and Sport, Ruslan Nonka, a renowned IT entrepreneur and co-founders of the NGO Museum of Contemporary Art Yulia Gnat and Olga Balashova, among many others.
AITX’s NFT sale
Artificial Intelligence Technology Solution Inc (AITX) has announced that it would be raising money for Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief through two avenues. The company aims to mint non-fungible tokens (NFT) containing the image of Roameo produced by Robotic Assistance Devices.
The tech company wants to raise more funds through the GoFundME page created by CEO Steve Reinharz to provide funds to the Ukrainian aid organization, reportedly verified by International Red Cross.
Wladimir Klitschko’s NFT
Wladimir Kritschko, a renowned Olympic champion, and boxing icon, in partnership with the artist WhlsBe recently unleashed an NFT collection. These collectibles will be available to mint in a tiered pricing model of $100, $1000, and $10,000.According to the joint team, funds from the sale will go directly to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s NFTs For Defense Forces
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian Vice prime minister, announced that the government would issue NFTs to raise funds for its military. The appeal has raised about $54.7 million for the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian non-governmental organizations, with a share sent to the Come Back Alive organization.
Other NFTs that are helping the victims of the war in Ukraine include Forza IkoniaNFTs, Reli3f, and TIMEpieces.
The Takeaway
The Ukraine and Russian geopolitics conflict could act as a game-changer for the global stance of digital assets. Although it is still early to evaluate how different governments around the globe view crypto assets, at least every country now knows how digital assets such as NFTs can significantly help a country raise funds to defend its border.
Although scaling innovations such as crypto cannot happen too often, the blockchain is rapidly gaining mainstream adoption as a robust and valuable financial technology, suggesting that NFTs could soon accomplish far more than they already have.
