Ukraine-based blockchain firm reports company ‘stronger’ one year into war
Sergey Vasylchuk, CEO of stake provider Everstake, said the company continues to move forward despite the ongoing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Exactly one year ago today – February 24, 2022 – Russian military forces invaded many areas of Ukraine in what has become one of the largest conflicts in modern Europe since World War II. In the past twelve months, more than 8,000 civilians have died, many Ukrainian cities have been shelled with at least one nearly leveled, and the country remains at risk of missile attacks and ground invasions.
Vasylchuk said before February 24 that he had made preparations to reduce the risk to Everstake and its employees, but still said there were months when many people based in Ukraine were unable to work for various reasons. The Everstake boss said he felt responsible for the livelihood of about 300 people: about 100 workers and their families.
“This […] forced me – I’m the management – to move forward,” said Vasylchuk. “We act pretty much immediately […] We had a lot of help from the partners, from the other nations, from friends.”
Together with Ukrainian government officials, Kuna, and crypto exchange FTX, Everstake helped launch the crypto-donation platform Aid for Ukraine in March 2022. The site reported more than $60 million in crypto and fiat contributions, going to initiatives including military equipment, medical supplies, and humanitarian projects.
“Essentially [these donations were] a little drop in the budget what we need at the moment, but at least it was something,” said Vasylchuk. “Bottom line, Everstake got a lot stronger.”
According to the CEO, many of the Everstake employees continued to work from shelters at various points over the past 12 months, facing noise from nearby explosions, loss of electrical power and adjusting to the new “normal”:
“Right now, I can’t imagine what would scare us, what things would challenge us, to impress us — like, ‘this is a disaster’. We can definitely be ready for anything right now.”
Amid attacks by Russian military forces with a workforce spread across different countries, Everstake employees also encountered online rumors and conspiracy theories – possibly promulgated by Russia’s propaganda machine – that the platform was being used for politically motivated money laundering. Among the theories pushed on social media was one that suggested Aid for Ukraine’s funds had been transferred to the US Democratic Party because of the site’s ties to FTX and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations.
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Although Vasylchuk describes the algorithms that led to the online attacks as “very professional,” he added that he was still shocked that some people in the United States were tricked into spreading the rumors. North Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn mentioned the conspiracy theory to her thousands of Twitter followers, and some news outlets picked up the story.
The Everstake CEO compared the “unlivable” conditions for many businesses in Ukraine to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement actions in the US, citing the agency’s recent crackdown on Kraken’s betting program. Although many parts of Ukraine are still under Russian military occupation, US President Joe Biden secretly traveled to Kiev on February 20 to visit President Volodymyr Zelensky.
