UkraineDAO has now raised over $6m
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, of feminist band Pussy Riot, helped to set up the UkraineDAO
Ukraine decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), which is sending funds to Ukraine’s charities during the Russian invasion, has raised $6.7m (£5.02m).
This is according to CNN Style.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, co-founder of Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist protest punk rock group, helped to set up the UkraineDAO. Nicknamed Nadya Tolokn, she is a critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Trippy Labs, a non-fungible token (NFT) studio and PleasrDAO, a collection of Decentralised Finance (DeFi) leaders, also played a part in establishing UkraineDAO.
UkraineDAO, which uses “the power of Web3 tech and community to raise funds” for Ukrainians under attack, is selling 10,000 NFTs of the Ukrainian flag, minted on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to help support the country.
OpenSea, the world’s largest marketplace for NFTs, MoonPay, a platform that allows the buying and selling of crypto, and Origin Protocol, a platform for hosting NFT sales, have all pledged to support the initiative too.
$2.7m raised in four days
Pussy Riot stated on 28 February that they had raised $4m (£2.9m). This increased to $6.7m by 3 March.
Tolokonnikova said that she wanted to use the Ukrainian flag as an NFT “because it’s not about any specific artists or aesthetics – it’s about something much bigger than all of us, it’s a pure gesture of solidarity”.
The Pussy Riot member added “Activism is the only reason I joined Web3. Now, when I’m so deeply ashamed of my government, I simply must try to help Ukrainians.”
Proceeds will be sent to the Return Alive Foundation and NGO Proliska.
Ukraine government accepts crypto donations
On 26 February, the Ukrainian government announced via Twitter that it would accept crypto donations.
The government originally announced it would only accept bitcoin (BTC), ETH and tether (USDT).
However, Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, tweeted on 2 March that they would also be accepting dogecoin (DOGE) and solana (SOL) donations.
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