Ukraine Accepts Polkadot After Receiving $20mln in Bitcoin, Ethereum

Additional cryptocurrency payments in Polkadot will be accepted by the Ukrainian government in addition to the Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT donations it has already received. “As we defend our independence, the people of Ukraine are thankful to the worldwide crypto community for their support and gifts. Polkadot contributions are now welcome as well,” the ministry stated on Twitter earlier today.

The tweet went on to say that other cryptocurrencies will be included in the near future. In response to the Ukrainian government’s original call for contributions on February 27, Polkadot CEO Gavin Wood promised to pay $5 million should Polkadot be accepted by the Ukrainian government. For not just contributing money in cryptocurrency that the government was accepting at the time, Wood drew criticism. Cryptocurrencies have been contributed to Ukraine’s government and NGOs since Russia invaded the nation on February 24, 2022, totaling millions of dollars.

According to blockchain analytics platform Elliptic, Ukraine’s crypto crowdfunding attempt crossed the $20 million mark yesterday. There have been thousands of bitcoin contributions to the Ukrainian government and NGOs that support the military since the donation began, Elliptic noted in a blog post. The government’s BTC and ETH addresses have so far received $8 million in Bitcoin and $7 million in Ethereum, respectively, from these contributions. However, additional avenues for generating cryptocurrency revenue have emerged.

Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the “conceptual protest art group” Pussy Riot, together with Trippy Labs and members of the PleasrDAO, founded UkraineDAO earlier this week to gather cash for Ukraine. In addition to the $500,000 claimed by Support Ukrainian Sovereignty, another fundraiser called Come Back Alive claims to have raised “several million dollars” in crypto, according to Elliptic, while NGO Come Back Alive, which was suspended by crowdfunding platform Patreon for “funding military activity,” has raised the same amount.

With Russia’s invasion on Ukraine and unprecedented sanctions imposed by the West, which drove the ruble into freefall, Bitcoin may be benefiting from the current geopolitical crisis in the global economy. In terms of total market capitalization, Bitcoin is now more valuable than Russia’s national currency, the ruble. After a 15 percent intraday and a 16 percent intra-week rise in Bitcoin values, CoinMarketCap reports that the digital currency has now eclipsed the ruble as the world’s most valuable. Earlier today, the price of one bitcoin was $43,106, up from around $37,500 the day before last.

As a result of new limitations imposed by the European Union, the United States, the French government, the United Kingdom and other Western countries blocking major Russian banks from using the SWIFT payment system, the fiat currency fell by 30% to less than one US cent on Monday morning. According to CoinMarketCap.com, Bitcoin was the world’s 14th most valuable currency with a market cap of 18,974,439 BTC, surpassing the Russian Ruble, which was ranked 17th with an m-cap of 14,369,230 BTC. The Indian Rupee ranked seventh, while the Swiss Franc placed 13th.

As a result of Russians buying Bitcoin in order to get their money out, prices have surged. As a store of wealth on the one hand, and as a way to facilitate quick and free transactions on the other, Bitcoin was founded. The utility of each of these services is becoming more apparent. Russians are flocking to Bitcoin as the ruble continues to fall. Also, Ukraine’s government has said that Bitcoin contributions would be accepted. Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-founder of Unocoin, told Financial Express Online that governments are looking at cryptos during times of crises since they allow citizens to donate anonymously.

Veteran investor Mark Mobius, the founding partner of Mobius Capital Partners, told CNBC on Tuesday: “I would not be a purchaser, but if I were a Russian, I would be.” Because the Russians have found a method to transfer their money and riches out of Russia, bitcoin has seen a surge in popularity in recent months, he said. In addition, Bloomberg reported on Monday that trade volumes in Bitcoin using the ruble had risen to the highest level since May. Bitcoin trade volumes in Ukraine’s currency, the Hryvnia, rose to levels not seen since October.

Conflict rages in Ukraine’s biggest cities as the Russian invasion proceeds. EU, US and other geopolitical powerhouses from across the globe imposed sanctions on Russia and threatened to cut off key banks from the SWIFT system, resulting in economic mayhem and reports of bank runs throughout the nation. Bitcoin-Ruble trade volume surged to levels not seen since May 2021 in the midst of this. Short-term decoupling is evident in the price of BTC, which jumped yesterday night, while futures indexes remain cautious. Additionally, the whole cryptocurrency market saw a significant boost of about $200 billion in a single day due to this rise. At the time of this writing, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seem to be divorced from conventional futures markets.

Bitcoin-Ruble trade volume rose to a level not seen since May last year around the time of this decoupling. People seem to be flocking to cryptocurrencies as a safety net due to growing concerns about the impact of economic sanctions on Russia. Even if that is the case, it is much too early to know for sure at this point in time. According to statistics from Glassnode, the number of addresses with more than 100 BTC and more than 1,000 BTC soared, suggesting enormous whale accumulation.