Ukraine to Auction Off NFT Donations to Help Fund Relief Efforts
Ukraine is readying the publication of a website where it will auction off roughly 300 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that it has received in contributions.
Ukraine has announced that it will be auctioning off NFTs donated to help with relief efforts.
The country was recently hit by a devastating tornado, and the government is asking for donations in order to help rebuild.
NFTs are digital assets that can be used to represent unique items or experiences. This is the first time that a government has decided to use this type of asset to fundraise.
According to a recent Etherescan transaction, one of the donated NFTs was CryptoPunk, which was sent to the country’s official Ethereum (ETH) address in early March.
According to Bloomberg, Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister of Digital Transformation, said he expects the CryptoPunk to sell for about $200,000.
The web page is expected to go live as early as this coming week, and it will feature ten NFT collections produced by non-profit organizations that have promised all of the money to Ukrainian causes.
The sales are scheduled to happen on the main NFT marketplace OpenSea.
“We just want to show how many people are doing this and how they are inspired by those events, and how they want to help Ukraine,” says Bornyakov.
Ukraine’s government began accepting bitcoin (BTC), ethereum, and tether (USDT) as donations immediately following the Russian invasion, which began at 4 a.m. on March 15th.
The list has since been expanded to include a total of 14 cryptocurrencies.
Ukraine’s move to auction off NFT donations is a sign of the growing mainstream adoption of crypto assets. So far, Ukraine has raised over $700,000 in crypto donations, which will go towards relief efforts in the country.
According to Bornyakov, utilizing NFTs to raise funds is “even more effective” than simply collecting crypto donations.
“Then you can keep a piece and it will be with you until you choose to sell it. It’s still out there, reminding people about what happened,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization formed to help further the growth and development of the open-source Stellar (XLM) network, has pledged to provide crypto assistance for Ukrainian refugees.
Ukraine isn’t the only country that’s been looking into using NFTs to help with relief efforts.
Last month, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced it would be launching its own cryptocurrency, called the “Building Blocks” token.
The WFP plans to use the token to provide food assistance to refugees in Syria. So far, the WFP has distributed more than $50 million worth of food assistance using Building Blocks.
According to reports, the foundation has gathered USD 20 million and will provide USD 300 worth of crypto to 66,000 Ukrainians.
Residents would be able to cash out at MoneyGram locations, according to Bornyakov.
“We are very grateful to the international community for their support. CryptoPunk’s donation is a great example of how NFTs can be used to help those in need,” said Bornyakov.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, in collaboration with cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX and staking platform Everstake, launched the country’s first crypto fundraising website called Aid For Ukraine in mid-March.
The auction is set to take place on April 12, and all proceeds will go towards the Ukraine Relief Fund. If you would like to donate or learn more about the relief efforts, please visit the Aid For Ukraine website. Thank you for your support!
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