How Cryptocurrency Has Aided Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine War

When people hear the word “war,” their minds often drift to the horrific scenes of blood splatter, ear-splitting gunshots which could mean the loss of a hero or villain, and the paralyzing anticipation of what will happen next. Violence, however, is only one factor in war. Since Russia began trying to take over the small country of Ukraine in spring of 2022, one financial aspect of war has been gaining a lot of attention―cryptocurrency.

Crypto has been part of a libertarian banking movement for a while, because with cryptocurrency, individuals can be in charge of their own money, rather than having it managed by banks. The Russia-Ukraine war has proved a need for control over one’s own assets. Ben Armstrong, the founder of Bitboy Crypto, explains, “because of … what we’re seeing with sanctions in Russia, people are starting to understand that your money should not be weaponized against you.”

In this day and age, people typically use their country’s currency for everyday purposes. The problem with a currency being owned by a country is that the government determines how much value a certain amount of money is worth. Every day civilians thus can be affected by events such as war. For instance, the Russian ruble has fallen by up to 25% as of April 5th 2022, since the country was sanctioned. As a result, this drastically changes the financial status of those who rely on the ruble for their everyday purchases and investments. However, with cryptocurrencies, no government sets the value. That is why bitcoin has risen over 35% as of April 5, 2022.

Apart from being a secure asset, cryptocurrency can also come in handy as a fundraising tool, as proven by the Russia-Ukraine war. GoFundMe has had a history of seizing money raised for causes that are seen as promotions of violence and encouragement of harassment. Days before Russia invaded Ukraine, thousands of people in Canada launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to support the truckers’ protest movement to oppose government health measures. GoFundMe took away the 10 million USD that was raised, claiming that the movement failed to “prohibit the promotion of violence and harassment and adhere to sanctions Canadian authorities had imposed,” according to Pti, an author for the Business newsletter Mint. On the other hand, NGOs and government entities were able to receive a decent amount of funding to support Ukraine by taking in cryptocurrency donations, particularly bitcoin and ethereum. As a matter of fact, Alex Bornyakov, the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, claims that “cryptoassets have been “extremely useful” in the facilitation of funds in the country and have already purchased invaluable equipment for the Ukrainian Army.”

Overall, cryptocurrency has aided Ukraine tremendously, especially with fundraising. It has been that warm blanket that could not only withstand the crisis, but also protect Ukrainians from it. Bitcoin has even grown a huge percentage since the war started. These events have proven that crypto does have a competitive advantage over paper money. In the future, it could become more common in everyday life purchases such as groceries.

Works Cited:

Samuel Wan, et al. “Is the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict a Long-Term Threat to Cryptocurrency?” CryptoSlate, CryptoSlate, 5 Apr. 2022, https://cryptoslate.com/is-the-russian-ukranian-conflict-a-long-term-threat-to-cryptocurrency/.

Pti. “How the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Has Put Cryptocurrencies in the Spotlight.” Mint, Mint, 7 Apr. 2022, https://www.livemint.com/market/cryptocurrency/how-the-russia-ukraine-conflict-has-put-cryptocurrencies-in-the-spotlight-11649309804557.html.

Armstrong, Ben. “Russia-Ukraine War Reveals a Use Case for Crypto.” Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, 2022, https://finance.yahoo.com/video/russia-ukraine-war-reveals-case-202729995.html.

Zemaits, Elimantas. “Crypto Helps Ukraine Defend Itself against Russia's Invasion, Here's How You Can Contribute.” Crypto News, Crypto News, 1 Mar. 1970, https://cryptonews.com/exclusives/crypto-helps-ukraine-defend-itself-against-russias-invasion-heres-how-you-can-contribute.htm.