The Ukrainian government has received nearly $70 million in crypto donations since Russia’s invasion of the country one year ago, according to Chainalysis.
The blockchain data platform says that the Ukrainian government was able to effectively draw upon cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), for wartime support.
“Although cryptocurrencies have been used for malicious efforts during the war, they have also emboldened Ukraine in numerous positive ways. For instance, in March 2022, we determined that more than $56 million worth of cryptocurrencies had been donated to addresses provided by the Ukrainian government since the start of the war. As of February 2023, these donations have grown to a total of nearly $70 million. The below graph demonstrates that the majority of donations were made in BTC and ETH, two of the most popular cryptocurrencies.”
Chainalysis says some of the “malicious” efforts were crypto donations flowing into pro-Russia groups.
“As of now at the one-year mark of the war, the number of pro-Russia organizations we’ve identified has grown to around 100, with nearly $5.4 million in donations received. However, those donations have waned over the course of the year.”
The data platform also says that there were large ransomware crypto thefts from groups inside Russia.
“In recent years, ransomware attacks have been on the rise due to factors such as new technology vulnerabilities due to the work-from-home culture. In our 2023 Crypto Crime Report, we identified at least $456.8 million in ransomware payments in 2022, the majority of which was taken by actors believed to be based in Russia.
Ransomware attacks have often been utilized by bad actors for political agendas, and we’ve seen plenty of examples during the Russia-Ukraine War. For instance, Conti, a prolific Russia-based ransomware group, obtained approximately $66 million from victims in 2022.”
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