Ukrainian Relief Efforts Within the Crypto & NFT Communities | Ingram Yuzek Gainen Carroll & Bertolotti, LLP

The crypto and NFT communities are no different. As of writing this post, more than $56 million worth of cryptocurrency has been donated to the Ukrainian government and to ‘Come Back Alive‘ , a well-recognized Ukrainian NGO providing support to the Ukrainian military. In addition, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of NFTs have been donated to Ukraine’s government and other relief organizations, including a Cryptopunk NFT valued at around $200,000 .

Other supporters have taken to minting and selling NFTs, with proceeds going towards Ukrainian relief efforts. Artist and activist, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the founding members of the musical group, Pussy Riot, launched a new organization, Ukraine DAO, in collaboration with Trippy Labs with “the goal to raise funds to donate to Ukrainian civilian organizations who help those suffering from the war that Putin started in Ukraine.” In the few days since it launched, Ukraine DAO raised over $6 million through the sale of an NFT of Ukraine’s flag. Minted as a single edition, the Ukraine flag NFT was listed for sale on PartyBid, which allows multiple buyers to team up to jointly purchase a single NFT. In total, more than 3,000 donors received tokens proportionate to the size of their contribution.

Other NFT centered fundraising programs include Fortza Ikonia’s Stand With Ukraine. In collaboration with artist Felipe Posada, Ikonia will mint up to 43,287,512 NFTs – one for each citizen of Ukraine. 100% of the proceeds of each $10 NFT will be donated to three Ukrainian charities. A 10% royalty fee will also be donated to the selected charity with every resale in perpetuity. RELI3F, a web3 initiative, has also launched a collection in support of the people of Ukraine. As indicated in their collection, available on OpenSea, “100% of the primary sale will go towards relief efforts in Ukraine. All royalties from secondary sales will either go towards those same efforts, or towards supporting Ukrainian artists, charity, and/or art initiatives of the participating artist’s choice.” Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation, announced that Ukraine’s government will soon begin selling NFTs to continue raising funds to defend the country against the Russian invasion. More information is expected to be announced in the coming days.

We’ve included several links in this post for our readers who are interested in learning more about the various ways to support Ukrainian relief efforts. As with all crypto, NFT and other digital transactions, donors seeking to support Ukrainian relief efforts should use best efforts to be aware of potential scams and should take care to vet any organizations they intend to donate to.