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Ukraine guarantees airdrop post gathering of $33M crypto donations

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With its country under Russian siege, Ukraine enthralled crypto Twitter with the guarantee of an airdrop, a frequent incentive for early adopters of new coins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Ukraine said on Wednesday, 2 March 2022, through its official Twitter account that it will execute an airdrop to donors who have donated millions to its official crypto addresses. The tweet read,

“Airdrop confirmed. Snapshot will be taken tomorrow, on March 3rd, at 6 pm Kyiv time (UTC/GMT +2 hours). Reward to follow!”

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Airdrops include cryptocurrency projects that distribute free tokens to their community in order to stimulate acceptance. In 2021, El Salvador distributed $30 worth of bitcoin to its residents. The one announced for Thursday, on the other hand, would be the first time a country undertakes an airdrop in exchange for crypto donations.

On 26 February 2022, as Russian troops invaded Ukrainian territory in a “special military operation,” Ukraine began taking cryptocurrency as a form of donation. So far, donations in bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Polkadot (DOT) tokens have been accepted.

The latest donation made was the CryptoPunk NFT. With this NFT donation, the total cryptocurrency donations amounted to $33 million. On Tuesday, 1 March 2022, CryptoPunk #5364 was sent to Ukraine’s Ethereum wallet, putting a financially valuable and sought-after cap on a fundraising drive.

However, opinions on the Punk’s worth differ. When crypto tracking business Elliptic identified the contribution on late Tuesday, Tom Robinson of Elliptic estimated it to be worth roughly $200,000; DeepNFTvalue, a site that utilizes machine learning to evaluate prices for unusual NFTs, put it at $233,000.

Ukraine’s crypto airdrop contains uncertainties

It’s not really evident what “snapshot” meant or whether any rewards would come in the form of tokens, NFTs, or something else. An email to Ukraine’s ministry of digital transformation seeking more information on the airdrop was not instantly returned.

Furthermore, Ukraine’s government has been utilizing memes and other digital growth hacking actions to enhance awareness of its suffering and generate finances since Russia invaded last week, including an online campaign to “Send Putin to Jupiter” by purchasing virtual rocket parts for $2.99 each.

Ukraine started requested cryptocurrency donations on February 26 and has so far received more than $30 million. Simultaneously, it is generating far larger sums through more traditional finance methods such as military equipment.

Ukraine pleas for donations in BTC and ETH

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On Saturday, Ukraine’s official Twitter account announced direct requests for cryptocurrency donations in the midst of the ongoing Russian military attack.

The official account of the nation had initially shared three such messages, while the first two had been deleted. The addresses presented remained consistent, both for bitcoin and ether/USDT, however the wording of the solicitations changed with each repetition. It’s uncertain if the tweets were erased and reposted on purpose, or if the addition of bitcoin addresses triggered Twitter’s post-2020 account hacking safeguards.

Olexander Scherba, a diplomat from Ukraine, also tweeted the Ukrainian account’s contribution appeal.

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Furthermore, blockchain data showed that the BTC address has received a total of 31.53804866 BTC, at the time of writing, along with the first transaction occurring on February 24.

Also, the specified address has received about 1,708 ETH. According to Etherscan, contributions have also been sent in the form of USDT, USDC, and severalnumber of non-fungible tokens.

Nonetheless, the messages have raised questions about their authenticity, particularly given that the Russian military used cyberattacks through the course of its invasion on Ukraine. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin was among many who cautioned people against donating donations without extra verification. Buterin said,

“There have been *a lot* of hacks alongside this invasion, this could easily be a hack. This info environment is as hostile as it gets, exercise extreme vigilance.”

Buterin later announced that he would be deleting his message, writing that he had received confirmation from a few sources that it’s true and that for the time being, he would remove his caution. The post further urged everyone to continue to stay watchful, and always send irreversible crypto transactions slowly and carefully.”

Ukraine embassy of WTO confirmed messages

The founder of Tron, Justin Sun, said on Twitter that he communicated with the Ukrainian embassy of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which verified the communications.

In perspective, Elliptic, a blockchain analytics business that has been monitoring donations in the aftermath of the Ukrainian invasion, announced on Saturday that almost 3,000 donations totaled $5.1 million in cryptocurrency.

The posts emerge as Russian invading forces approach Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. According to reports, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has turned down US evacuation offers.

Quincy university rolls out an option to accept donations in 32 different cryptos

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Quincy University is the latest university to accept cryptocurrency donations in the form of Bitcoin, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrencies. Quincy Institution, founded in 1860 by Franciscan friars, is a Catholic university that focuses on science, liberal arts, and professions.

Officials at QU revealed on Monday that they may now accept donations in digital currency. Because Quincy University is a 501(c)(3) charity, all donations, including bitcoin, are tax-deductible. In addition, QU receives the entire amount of the gift.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, ChainLink Token, and Litecoin are among the 32 digital currencies accepted by Quincy University.

“More and more people are investing in digital currency, and we don’t see that slowing down anytime soon,” said Matt Bergman, senior director of advancement. “QU is always looking for ways to make it easy for donors to support our students and initiatives.”

Quincy University

Skyrocketting number of universities that accept crypto

The University of Puget Sound was the first American university to accept bitcoin donations when it did so in 2014. With the aid of payment processing provider BitPay, an alumni sent the educational institution 14.5 Bitcoins, which were valued at roughly $10,000 at the time.

Since then, the number of colleges that have adopted cryptocurrency has exploded. Participants in the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School’s blockchain program may now pay their tuition fees in Bitcoin. Some of the top universities that accept crypto include the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, King’s College in New York, Innovation and Entrepreneur Business School in Spain, European School of Management and Technology in Germany, Financia Business School in France, The University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom, and FPT University in Vietnam.

Recently a South Korean university announced that they will issue NFT degrees to all 2830 graduates.

By removing the need for government-backed currencies, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have the potential to revolutionize the nature of money itself. It also has the ability to alter the wealth distribution in society significantly. However, many more institutions would have to follow in the footsteps of these specific universities and begin conducting business utilizing digital assets in order to attain this aim. Since then, the number of colleges that have adopted cryptocurrency has exploded.

Crypto donations boost; The Giving Block integrates with Aggregator RoundlyX

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Crypto donations provider, The Giving Block announced a partnership with tool and portfolio aggregator RoundlyX. According to the launch post, this would be the first time that a portfolio aggregator has built its own donation forum to support thousands of charities around the world. Through the partnerships, The Giving Block would provide direct access to its wide network of nonprofit entities to RoundlyX users, who will be able to navigate within the platform to donate to their preferred charity and receive an automatic email receipt and confirmation of their contribution.

Further, the post reveals that the integration is slated to go live in 2022. Interestingly, the latest announcement comes at a crucial time for crypto philanthropy as crypto adoption by nonprofits is rising and donations in digital assets are on their way to surpassing $1 billion in 2022. Expressing excitement over the proposed deal, Will Trible, Co-Founder of RoundlyX noted,

“We are thrilled to expand the ability of our users to connect to the things they care about most. Customers today want to do good while doing better in their own lives. Spare change roundups into The Giving Block charities allow our customers to be a force for good in the world when making everyday purchases. We are excited to ‘spare change the world’ with The Giving Block as a partner.”

The Giving Block is the crypto donations solution, that provides an ecosystem for nonprofits and charities to fundraise Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, be found by crypto donors, receive funds instantly, and become part of a network of crypto media partners to support their missions.

RoundlyX is a roundup tool and portfolio aggregator that enable users to invest spare change in cryptocurrencies and digital assets by rounding up everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and investing the remainder in the digital assets the user chooses. Through tools like roundups, market participants can ‘weather the volatile but emerging digital asset class without overextending’.

Crypto donations- ‘Spare change the world’

On Crypto Giving Tuesday 2021, The Giving Block raised funds of more than $2.4 million in cryptocurrency. Last year too, the fundraising platform secured about $4 million in crypto donations. According to Co-founder Alex Wilson, this growth is partly due to the fact that donating crypto is more tax-efficient than fiat donations. Having said that, crypto philanthropy has opened a new door of opportunities to a generation eager to give back.

Susan G Komen now accepts cryptocurrency donations

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One of the biggest organizations that fight breast cancer, Susan G Komen, has declared that they will now be accepting donations in the form of cryptocurrency.

The organization broadcasted the news using their Twitter handle to state that, hereon, the charity will be accepting donations in the form of crypto assets like Bitcoin(BTC), Ethereum(ETH), and more through their successful partnership with ‘The Giving Block’, a platform that raises funds for non-profits and charities, through cryptocurrency. The donor firm accepts Bitcoin(BTC), Ethereum(ETH) and now has dinted in Shiba Inu(SHIB) and Dogecoin(DOGE). The enterprise also accepts other coins like Dogelon Mars(ELON), Decentraland(GALA), Orchid(OXT), and Civic(CVC)”.

The institution, Susan G Komen’s motive is to save lives by meeting the most critical needs in their communities and investing in breakthrough research to prevent and cure breast cancer. The organization said

“Crypto currency donations are going to provide a new avenue for donors to join our fight to save lives from #breastcancer”

“I race in memory of my sister Susan G Komen”- Nancy G brinker

The organization started with a promise made in 1980 by Nancy G. Brinker made to her sister, Susan. She promised Susan that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise gave birth to the Susan G Komen organization which marked the beginning of a global movement.

Susan Goodman Komen was a fashion model who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. She succumbed to the disease three years after her diagnosis.

Susan G Komen is the only organization that addresses breast cancer on multiple fronts like research, community health, global outreach, and public policy initiatives to make the biggest impact against this disease.

The organization claims to have invested more than $2.9 billion in groundbreaking research, community health outreach, advocacy, and programs in more than 60 countries. Their constant efforts have helped reduce deaths from breast cancer by 40% between 1989-2016, according to a study. The organization opening its arms to donations through Cryptocurrency makes more ways to raise funds and that in turn means more lives saved.

Ethereum Foundation receives $1.5M donation to fund Ethereum 2.0

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Ethereum Foundation has revealed that six crypto-companies have donated $250k each. According to the official announcement, the funds secured will be used to aid efforts to upgrade the Ethereum blockchain. Over the past several years, the ETH ecosystem has witnessed unprecedented developments and innovations.

To foster the growth of the blockchain, several platforms have come together and donated a total of $1.5 million. Announcing the same, Ethereum Foundation stated,

“Today, we’re excited to announce that Compound Grants, Kraken, Lido, Synthetix, The Graph and Uniswap Grants are donating $250K each to support ETH execution-layer client teams. This project is the result of several months of work, and will supplement the significant funding provided by the Ethereum Foundation this year. This fundraise will have no impact on the EFs continued financial support for these teams.”

Recipients of Ethereum Foundation’s fund

The official blog post also stated that the Ethereum Foundation has allocated more than $10 million on execution-layer client R&D since the beginning of 2019 and that it remains on its highest priority list.

The foundation reportedly picked five of its client teams- Besu, Erigon, Geth, Nethermind, and Nimbus to receive the funds. It will offer the necessary infrastructure for the network after the unification of ETH 1.0 and ETH 2.0. The non-profit organization asserted to the community that the additional grants will not influence its current financial support efforts.

Besides, TWJ had earlier reported Kraken’s contribution to the Ethereum Foundation to support the open-source developer teams behind ETH 2.0. In addition to the cryptocurrency exchange, the six entities include Uniswap, Synthetix, The Graph, Compound Grants Program, and lastly, Lido Finance.

Revealing the main intention behind this approach, the foundation said,

“Part of our goal with this first round is to lessen risks that come from reliance on any single team or entity as we all work to maintain quality open source products in a diverse, decentralized, and sustainable way. We continue to work towards more decentralized funding mechanisms for Ethereum’s public goods, and this is one more step that enables larger groups of participants to directly support client development and maintenance.”

Signal Impanels Bitcoin And Other Crypto For Donations Via The Giving Block

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The last couple of months opened up the gates to several platforms into the crypto-verse. Prominent messaging application, Signal is the latest firm to induce crypto into its system.

The price of Bitcoin [BTC] and an array of other coins were seen bagging massive gains. BTC even surged to a high of $61K. While the asset managed to garner shelter from several platforms, Signal revealed that it had started to accept crypto as donations.

Signal To Accept BTC Donations

The Signal application was rolled out in 2018 and amassed immense fame after WhatsApp users began encountering privacy-related issues. Now, Signal Technology Foundation, a nonprofit platform working under the messaging application has decided to accept donations in cryptocurrencies.

In a recent tweet, the app announced that the platform has begun receiving crypto. The tweet read,

Twelve prominent cryptocurrencies were accepted as donations by Signal. This list entailed, Bitcoin [BTC], Litecoin [LTC], Bitcoin Cash [BCH], Ethereum [ETH], Chainlink [LINK], Basic Attention Token [BAT], Gemini Dollar [GUSD] as well as Zcash [ZEC].

This latest initiative would reportedly be aided by The Giving Block, the prominent crypto donations portal.

The platform further read,

“If you want to receive a tax deduction in the US for the fair market value of your cryptocurrency donation, you can optionally provide an email address to receive a tax receipt. The Giving Block also supports anonymous donations.”

This messaging app isn’t the first platform to accept crypto for donations. The United Nations [UN], particularly the United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF] had been taking donations in crypto for quite a while now. The agency set up the CryptoFund back in 2019, to spruce up its presence in the digital world. UNICEF’s press release stated,

“The CryptoFund is a pooled fund of bitcoin and ether. It is a part of UNICEF’s Innovation Fund, with the distinction that investments made through the CryptoFund are denominated in crypto.”

Russian Opposition Gets Massive Boost From Bitcoin Campaign Donations

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Bitcoin promotes financial freedom and hence campaign contributions using crypto assets are getting more and more mainstream. Amidst the bull season, the crypto-asset is back in a global spotlight. In the latest news, Russian opposition leader and jailed Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny’s campaign has so far received 658.609 BTC since 2016.

Donations in Bitcoin has helped to make it harder for the country’s intelligence services to track and disrupt its funding against current President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny’s anti-Kremlin movement has accepted donations in the crypto-asset for over four years through its network of regional political headquarters. This year alone, Navalny’s campaign was funded with Bitcoin donations worth $300,000.

With this, donation figures have far exceeded the total amount that was paid in BTC in the year 2020 at the prices at the time.

Back in January this year, Navalny made headlines after he returned to Russia for the first time since being poisoned in Siberia last summer. Following which, he was arrested and slapped with a nearly three-year jail term in a case which he alleges to be” politically-motivated”.

Bitcoin and Russia

Russia has adopted its cryptocurrency law on the 1st of January. As part of the country’s law ‘On Digital Financial Assets,’ [DFA], a decree signed by President Putin on the 10th of December was adopted.

This decree stated how local officials should essentially deal with their cryptocurrency holdings. In short, it obliged two legal initiatives. First which require the country’s public officials to declare their as well as those of their spouse and children’s funds.

Another regulation exists that prohibits certain Russian officials from owning any cryptocurrency, at all. Last December, the the country’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection published an informational letter reminding some officials that they are obligated to liquidate their digital assets by the 1st of April, regardless of the country of issuance.

Hackers Demand Bitcoin Donations Via Indian Prime Minister’s Website Account

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Back in July, many Twitter handles of prominent celebrities, officials, and even organizations were subject to a hack. The hackers sought Bitcoin and almost all the hacked accounts demanded prominent cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], and XRP. It seems like a new set of hackers have followed the footsteps of the former as the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was the latest victim of a similar attack.

History Repeats Itself

This time, however, the Twitter account of the Indian Prime Minister’s personal website was used to entice people into donating cryptocurrency. Earlier today, an array of tweets seeking Bitcoin specifically as a donation to the PM’s National Relief Fund for COVID-19.

 

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The addresses mentioned in the tweets were 0xae073db1e5752faff169b1ede7e8e94bf7f80be6 which consisted about 0.0000696969 ETH [$0.03] as the final balance annd the other address, 14DuwVLiHLcMqhtMqe4bRcfNGoYPcEaGYt had a total of 0.00006900 BTC [$0.78] as its final balance.

Unlike the previous attack back in July, the hacker here pointed out that the Prime Minister’s personal website account was hacked. The hackers that were carrying this attack out used the alias “John Wick.” The hackers further tweeted,

“Yes this account is hacked by John Wick (hckindia@tutanota.com). We have not hacked Patym Mall.”

The hacker reportedly tweeted this in light of the recent infringement that stirred Patym Mall. Cyble, a cybersecurity platform revealed that a group behind the Patym Mall operated under the name, John Wick. However, the hackers asserted that they weren’t behind the hack of the e-commerce platform.

While the aforementioned tweets have been taken down from the Prime Minister’s account, officials are still probing the matter.

After the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on cryptocurrencies, the crypto industry started garnering more traction throughout the country. As the country is diving deep into digitalization, notable platforms across the globe have been viewing India as a comprehensive profitable market.

Several prominent personalities like the former President of the United States, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Joe Biden, and several others were victims of the attack during July. The hackers caught the attention of the followers of these celebrities via a crypto giveaway. However, officials were quick enough to arrest three individuals behind the hack, while the fourth one is still on the run.

Cryptocurrency Mining Firm Fails to Provide Proof for COVID-19 Donations to Texas State Securities Board

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According to latest reports, a cryptocurrency mining company called Ultra BTC Mining LLC was promising to double investors money while contributing to UNICEF’s COVID-19 relief fund. A detailed analysis by the Texas government revealed that Ultra BTC could not provide any proof for the donations it made to the relief fund.

The Texas State Securities Board filed an Emergency Cease and Desist Order on the mining firm after reports came in that it had raised over $18 million from investors. This included people from the state of Texas who gave away their computing power to mine cryptocurrencies. What gave the company away were its claims of donating large sums of money for the UNICEF coronavirus relief fund.

Ultra Mining and its agent Laura Branch, had made news when they repeatedly spoke about the multitudes of charitable donations made. The numbers given by the company said that over $100,000 was donated to the fund to enable the purchase of medical equipment like ventilators. The release said:

“Ultra Mining and Branch, neither of whom are registered to sell securities in Texas, are also failing to disclose the principals or financials of its cryptocurrency mining operation. The company is promising eye-opening returns. According to the order, they are telling potential investors that a $10,000 investment in computing power will return nearly $10,500 per year. A $50,000 investment will return nearly $52,000 per year.”

Aside from direct registrations, the company is also offering affiliate partnerships where individuals can recruit new investors. Affiliates on the Ultra BTC website will get a 5 percent commission on the deposits from new investors. The red flags went up when Ultra Mining started a ‘recession special’ where investors could avail a extra 30 percent of purchased cryptocurrencies. Sources from the company claimed that during these ‘hard times’, anyone with an initial deposit of 10,000 could benefit from the discount.

The Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings said that the company has 31 days to respond to the notice of fraudulent behavior. A little digging around revealed that some of Ultra Mining’s partners were still in line for payments. These were the same partners responsible for running Ultra Mining YouTube videos. The mining firm also offers its partners up to 20 percent of the total deposits as commission.