Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov on Tuesday thanked crypto companies by name for their financial support in their defense against the Russian invasion.
Fast facts
- “I am grateful to @gavofyork, who made an impressive donation of $5M from @Polkadot $DOT. This will certainly contribute to the Ukrainian victory as well as support civil people. We will win — the best people with us,” wrote Fedorov in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.
- He also thanked Solana Foundation and Everstake for collaborating with the government of Ukraine to set up a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), Aid For Ukraine, to raise funds directly for civil aid.
- The National Bank of Ukraine opened an account on Tuesday for receiving donations specifically for humanitarian aid, joining an account for Ukraine’s military that opened last week. Neither of these multi-currency accounts accept crypto, however.
- Fedorov, who is also a vice prime minister of Ukraine, on Sunday asked all major crypto exchanges to freeze addresses from Russia and its ally Belarus. So far, no exchanges have agreed to do so.
- “It’s crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users,” Fedorov wrote on Feb. 27.
- “To unilaterally decide to ban people’s access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists,” said a spokesperson for Binance in an interview on CNBC.
- “I understand the rationale for this request but, despite my deep respect for the Ukrainian people, @krakenfx cannot freeze the accounts of our Russian clients without a legal requirement to do so,” wrote KrakenFX Co-founder and CEO Jesse Powell, adding, “Russians should be aware that such a requirement could be imminent.”