By
Bena Ilyas
April 25th, 2024
Just a day ago, the Ukrainian government also confirmed that it would receive donations in Polkadot.
Amidst the horrors of the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict, more and more Ukrainian people are turning towards cryptocurrencies and namely Bitcoin to ensure financial autonomy. Both countries are finding crypto as a safer alternative as fears of the collapse of the banking system heightens up amidst the deteriorating conditions. It is interesting to note that a lot of exchanges are being pressurized to ban Russia from making crypto transactions. However, two of the largest exchanges Coinbase and Kraken have denied agreeing to the same.
Report Findings
As per a report released by Arcane Research on Tuesday, an increased number of Ukrainians are buying Bitcoin and stable coin Tether against home currency hryvnia on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In just 24 hours, the Bitcoin-hryvnia trading volume went up from $1 million to $3 million. On the other hand, the trading volume for Tether-hryvnia rose to $8.5 million from a little over $6 million.
Growing Ukrainian Interest in Bitcoin and Altcoins
Just a day ago, the Ukrainian government also confirmed that it would receive donations in Polkadot after the global community came together to offer over $20 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT for military support. Since the start of the conflict, cryptocurrency is seen to be having a dramatic involvement. Uniswap, a decentralized exchange, has added a new feature through an interface that will allow any user to swap tokens for Ethereum and donate them to the Ukrainian government.
Although crypto has joined the mainstream, there are a lot of concerns regarding its use. Countries have not been really welcoming to its usage, however, in the middle of a war, the only thing that stands apart is how it makes things easy for the government and citizens. The Ukrainian government is using crypto to buy essential supplies such as food, gas, and military equipment. The donations are being distributed Through digital wallets issued by the government and set up by Kyiv-based crypto exchange Kuna, the donations are being distributed across the relevant groups.
Role of Crypto in the Russia-Ukraine War
Crypto has smoothly entered the financial ecosystem amidst the growing escalation between the two countries. It is appealing to people on both sides due to its anonymous and autonomous nature through which people are able to forsake traditional banks. And of course, there are other benefits like it cannot be frozen or censored i.e., it can work for the common man without any government interference. However, there are cons too when it comes to the same features that it offers. For one, it could be used by Russia and can be a slap to the US and its allies who are forcing sanctions on the country. Cybercrime and the currency’s volatility are other problems the crypto holders need to be wary of.
Thus, crypto adoption seems to have both its pros and cons. While it is still unknown how cryptocurrencies would affect the international conflict, their relevance amidst global fights stands true.