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Itamar Rogel
July 6, 2022

Crypto draws donations and mentions in support of Ukraine

As Russian troops were invading Ukraine on February 24th, the country’s digital transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorove made two quick moves. Two days later, while knowing that money aid would take days or weeks to arrive, he announced Ukraine’s acceptance of in-minute cryptocurrency donations. In mid-March, the country’s pro-crypto efforts continued with his government placing legal crypto exchange moves to allow easier usage by local consumers.

 

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, so does the pouring of fundraising and donations in support of the Ukrainian people. While the cryptocurrency money raised accounts for a fairly small percentage of total donations, it was used to purchase medical and food supplies, helmets, and vests. Ukraine began to use cryptocurrency well before the invasion occurred, and it came in handy at such times of war, as the government kept trying to fund the necessary supplies.

Crypto draws donations and mentions in support of Ukraine

Affogata tracked around 12,000 conversations on the open web around cryptocurrency usage in Ukraine during the fourth and fifth week of the invasion and found interesting information. Averaging 1,000 mentions a day from all over the open web, many of the comments urged people to donate crypto to the country, as some of those mentions included specific currency addresses. There were also those who feared that the whole crypto donations were a scam, thus choosing to keep away from it all.

 

Around 3% of mentions discussed the just-published government crypto rules, as some commenters attached the policy notices to their posts. Ukraine is one of the top world countries when it comes to using cryptocurrency, as also noticed by the many commenters discussing its values’ relevance.

 

Also at the center of attention were crypto and the sanctions bestowed on Russia. Around 4,000 mentions were tracked during the two weeks, peaking on March 25th with the Russian announcement that it would accept payment for oil and gas with bitcoin. Most mentions shared and discussed articles regarding the ways by which the Russian government was trying to circumvent sanctions through crypto. Others talked about the international effort to maintain the effectiveness of the sanctions regardless of cryptocurrency use. Finally, there were commenters who voiced their opinions about the implications of cryptocurrency values.

 

Affogata’s AI-powered consumer voice platform tracks market trends based on real-time online conversations and feedback from all over the open web. The data tracking and analysis also help comprehend how people react to world events and measure the public’s sentiment and wisdom.