Following last week’s Russian incursion, Ukraine’s government quickly canceled its planned crypto airdrop and said that it would instead sell NFTs to raise revenue.
“After careful consideration, we decided to cancel airdrop,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister for digital transformation, posted from his verified Twitter account today. “Instead, we will announce NFTs to support Ukrainian Armed Forces soon. We DO NOT HAVE any plans to issue any fungible tokens.”
Crypto donations pour in for Ukraine
This is the latest in a long line of cryptocurrency-related fundraising initiatives on behalf of the Ukrainian government in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian government’s official Twitter account has previously disseminated information on the country’s bitcoin donations.
Since yesterday, official updates have been relocated from the Ukrainian government’s Twitter account to that of Vice Prime Minister Fedorov.
Scammers have previously seemed to be targeting Ukraine’s fundraising efforts by releasing a phony token that looked to be authentic. This cryptocurrency was announced as official by news outlets, and it quickly acquired considerable trading activity on decentralized markets.
However, there were other red flags, including how the token was designed to appear as though it was issued from Ukraine’s public Ethereum address when a third party actually issued it.
While the airdrop is no longer taking place, it was an effective marketing tool in terms of attracting more donations. Following the announcement of the airdrop, contributions to Ukraine skyrocketed in anticipation of a future token, with millions of dollars pouring into the country’s coffers.
According to Fedorov’s most recent Telegram report, the Ukrainian government has received roughly $30 million since it began collecting crypto donations last Friday. The government has used a variety of cryptocurrencies to raise funds, including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and Polkadot’s DOT.
Companies and governments have used airdrops in the past to encourage widespread adoption outside of the private sector. Last year, El Salvador gave its residents $30 in Bitcoin as a prize for using the government-sponsored Chivo wallet. The decision was made as part of the country’s acceptance of Bitcoin as legal cash, which has been marred by controversy.
While later contributors will not receive the anticipated token, they will be able to boast that a sovereign state has challenged them.