Can crypto be the key to continued support for Ukraine when world outrage subsides?
Brittany Kaiser and Olive Allen
This article was written in collaboration with Taylor McAuliffe, researcher and interactive media writer from Altitude acceleratora non-profit innovation center and business incubator that offers programs to help entrepreneurs grow and scale.
We met Brittany Kaiser and Olive Allen at Collision 2022. These two activists continue their passionate plea to support the efforts in Ukraine with every serious circumstance as Russian intervention progresses.
In times of war, where we have seen companies suspend operations during the conflict, where communications can be infiltrated, and where local, financial, transportation and energy infrastructure traditional systems are vulnerable to hostile cyber attacks, the only real security in recent months has been crypto.
Kaiser declared that days before February 24, 2022, when Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine that resulted in the invasion of this sovereign nation, a first crypto-initiative, called Ukraine DAO, was established by Alona Shevchenko, collect the first $ 8M in crypto for Ukraine. According to Kaiser, February 26,
“I was honored to support the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine in launching the Aid for Ukraine crypto fundraising campaign … Within a few days, $ 100 million was raised through the wallets of the government and top NGOs, which Come back alive and World Central Kitchen. It was the same day that the EU said it would provide 100 million euros in humanitarian aid, but 109 million had already hit wallets and were used in crypto: Bitcoin
Brittany Kaiser is a former employee of Cambridge Analytica, who became whistleblowers and witnessed the company’s use of Facebook data, which affected both Brexit and the US election in 2016, launched its organization, Own Your Data to give people the resources to protect online information their. . Olive Allen is a former Russian citizen who has condemned the country’s aggressions against Ukraine.
It has been almost 5 months since Russia invaded Ukraine – a war that Putin waged, but confidently assumed would be one and completed in weeks, not months. The suffering Ukraine and its people have experienced since the day Putin declared war on this nation has been worrying: the displacement of nearly 5 MM refugees, the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II, nearly 4,700 civilian deaths, and according to Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, an estimated 95 billion dollars in damage with about 30% of the country’s infrastructure being destroyed. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes Russia’s war in Ukraine will take years before it is resolved. There have been reports of “compassion fatigue“As the media headlines about Ukraine have withdrawn from the front pages in recent months:
“Of course, this is not to say that people outside Ukraine have lost sympathy for what has happened and continue to happen to people in Ukraine. But the intensity of that concern and the preoccupation with a new war in Europe has begun to disappear into the background.”
The emergence of cryptocurrencies and blockchains has brought countless innovations, and now we are witnessing cryptocurrencies, and specifically NFTs, as key components of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, which serve as possible lifelines for survival on all fronts. The presence of cryptocurrencies and NFTs as fundraising tools has drawn over $ 63.8 million in cryptocurrencies to the Ukrainian government, with over $ 100 million in donations to the Ukrainian army and efforts to rebuild the country. With numbers as staggering as these, many people ask, why crypto?
Alex Gladstein, Strategy Manager at the Human Rights Foundation, sums up the importance of secure and direct access to funds, and says that:
“The fact that it can not be frozen, the fact that it can not be censored, and the fact that it can be used without ID is very, very important … and why Bitcoin is such an important humanitarian tool.”
What is crucial about this war is that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine does not take place exclusively on the ground. This is the first major conflict “involves large-scale cyber operations.” With an increased risk of damage to infrastructure and data, the security of cryptocurrencies is particularly attractive to governments and military operations. Kaiser describes the Ukrainian authorities who welcome cryptocurrencies, and recognizes the need for secure and rapid funding at this time:
“President Zelensky, wearing combat gear, signed a bill that legalized digital assets in the country, and now the official government wallets on Campaign for assistance to Ukraineofficially accepts 16 different cryptocurrencies. “
Crypto- and NFTs have proven to be very effective fundraising tools in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, allowing funds to land directly in the hands of displaced Ukrainians without the need for a central bank. NGOs and CBOs have maximized the use of crypto donations, and accepted funds that have gone directly to «To bring the most vulnerable children, the elderly and single mothers with their children to safety; both internally displaced persons and refugees » says Kaiser.
Crypto also provides security and transparency for those who donate funds. Kaiser describes the revolutionary visibility of tracking money transfers, and gives donors a way to see how their contributions have materialized:
“You can see a specified list of everything that was used out of these wallets, which is absolutely incredible for public transparency. You can look at the blockchain and see all the money that has come in public and all the money that has come out and where they has become off. [This fund transfer] is for medical purposes … this was for bulletproof vests … these were night vision goggles. It is a revolution because most governments do not have this level of transparency … So the last one report which came out, published the last $ 45 million in cryptocurrencies that were used. You can see a specified list of everything that was used from these wallets ”
Ministry of Digital Transport, Ukraine
Olive Allen is an activist. She escaped the Russian government more than 10 years ago to the United States:
“I decided to burn my passport because I never see that I can ever exist in that reality … or ever come back to live in the country that supports this government. Burning my passport at the Russian consulate was my way of saying that I stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. “
Olive Allen
That’s when she realized she could do more. She had been an NFT artist since 2018, since the beginning. She gathered her teammates in the room and began to create NFTs to raise funds mainly for children and the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. Allen explains the effort so far:
“People realize that NFTs are not as evil as they have been portrayed in the media so far, but they are a very valuable fundraising tool and a great way to make a difference very quickly … In just a few hours, money makes money. it would not happen in the traditional art world or a charity gala … and the fact that the country is embracing digital currency speaks to a growing acceptance of cryptocurrency. “
Kaiser stresses the dire need for aid in a country that Putin believed had expected to occupy weeks, not months.
“Obviously now that we are almost five months after the start of the invasion, the attention has been drawn to the war in Ukraine, and therefore donations to both the government and to all the humanitarian aid organizations that receive money in both crypto and fiat have dropped drastically. It is important that the world will not forget that Ukraine is still at war. “
Recently, Bitcoin’s value has fallen 70% to $ 20,000 from the highest value of $ 68,000 in November 2021. Losses in the Crypto community have been estimated at $ 1.5 trillion, and its herring effects marked all over Ether
Kaiser has pointed out that donations started before this cryptocurrency decline. The progress of this campaign had begun to ease, so they have relaunched the initiative to announce other ways people can provide support.
“In Austin at Consensus, we announced in a panel with the Ministry of Digital, NEAR
As a co-founder of Heritage Hub, Kaiser explains what forced her to create this project:
“I spent most of my life training as a human rights lawyer with a concentration on prevention and punishment for atrocities, especially genocide. When an attacker plans to commit genocide, they try to wipe out all evidence of a particular culture or race. The Russian military’s systematic targeting of cultural monuments made this project intrusive, and especially emotional for me as a Ukrainian Jew. I am currently spending a lot of my time getting this project to scale as quickly as possible so that we can preserve and protect both the heritage and the hope of the Ukrainian people for the future. “
Kaiser does not accept that the momentum has stopped,
“It is still important places all over Ukraine that are being bombed. The attacker is specifically seeking to wipe out the cultural heritage, which is a sign of the genocidal crime … so it is important that the eyes of the world continue to be on Ukraine and that everything is done to come to the rescue of our Ukrainian brothers. and sisters. ”
Here is a list of initiatives where people can donate:
Meta History.Gallery – The first government and NFT collection called the Museum of War. The initiative aims to encrypt the blockchain, facts, time, places and location of events since the invasion to dull Russia’s disinformation campaigns from changing the truth. Unchangeable. Solid.
Help for Ukraine via Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine – Website accepts donations from 16 different cryptocurrencies
Ukraine Heritage Hub – The recently announced project to preserve and reconstruct Ukraine’s cultural heritage sites and objects on the blockchain, in the metaverse and then physically.
Save Ukraine: The most active NGO working in Ukraine, founded in 2014, and has now evacuated over 46,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced persons and refugees from the war.
For inquiries, email: [email protected]
About Taylor McAuliffe
Taylor McAuliffe is a fourth-year student at McGill University studying majors in industrial relations and dual majors in economics and communications. Her work experience centers around content creation and copywriting. She currently works as an Interactive Media Writer Intern at Altitude Accelerator.
About Altitude Accelerator
Altitude Accelerator is a non-profit innovation center and business incubator committed to commercializing effective technology in Southern Ontario. Altitude’s team of more than 100 experts, industry, academic and public partners and consultants helps startups in cleantech, advanced manufacturing, internet of things (IoT), hardware, software and life sciences grow faster, stronger, commercialize their products, and get on the market. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario’s Innovation District, Altitude Accelerator was established through a partnership with the University of Toronto Mississauga, the Mississauga Board of Trade and the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation, & Trade.
