Tracked crypto donations to Ukraine surge to $108M as Kraken, Bored Ape joins in

Two weeks into the Russo-Ukrainian War, donations continue to pour in from generous blockchain enthusiasts worldwide.

On Wednesday, total crypto donations across Ukrainian government wallet addresses, charities, and relief efforts tracked by Cointelegraph has reached $108 million. The top three recipients of such funds included the official Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum(ETH) wallet addresses of the Ukrainian government, and a BTC donations address for Come Back Alive. 

The same day, Kraken announced that it would distribute over $10 million to clients who created an account from Ukraine before Mar 9 for relief efforts. Regardless of their account balance held, Ukrainian clients of Kraken would receive $1,000 in BTC each during the first trach of fund disbursement, which can be withdrawn immediately. The exchange also waived currency exchange fees for withdrawals of up to $1,000. Jesse Powell, Kraken’s CEO, gave the following remarks regarding the aid package: 

“Cryptocurrency remains an important humanitarian tool, especially at a time when many around the world can no longer rely on traditional banks and custodians.”

Funds will be distributed throughout the year, in part to give Ukrainian residents time to complete Kraken’s ‘intermediate’ know-your-customer verification process. Perhaps ironically, fees collected from Russia-based Kraken accounts will partly fund the aid package.

Kraken will distribute over $10 million worth of to aid clients in Ukraine. Tranche 1 recipients will be credited $1000 of #BTC, withdrawable tomorrow. The package is funded by historical Ukraine revenues and H1 2022 revenues from Russia-based trading.https://t.co/DdkY2TsVoB

— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) March 9, 2022

Bored Ape Yacht Club, or BAYC, too, joined in on crypto fundraising efforts for Ukraine on Wednesday. After collecting nearly $1 million in ETH from wallets containing a BAYC nonfungible token, the developers behind BAYC said it would match the contribution with a $1 million ETH donation of their own.

It’s been inspiring seeing our community come together in support of Ukraine – almost $1m in ETH has been donated to @Ukraine by wallets containing a BAYC ecosystem NFT. Today we’re matching that with a $1m ETH donation of our own. ♥️

— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) March 8, 2022

Other notable contributions include Binance’s Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund, which has received over $11.3 million in BTC, ETH Binance Coin (BNB), and Binance USD since inception. In addition, during its last update on Mar 3., it appears Kuna’s Crypto Fund of Ukraine has received over $14 million in major altcoins such as Polkadot (DOT), Tether (USDT), Candle, USDC, and DAI.