Binance raised more than $10 million that will be distributed to intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help provide emergency relief to Ukrainian refugees, including children, amid Russia's continued invasion.
The cryptocurrency trading platform said in a media release that it would allocate the funds through organizations on the ground, including UNICEF, UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, the International Strategic Action Network for Security (iSANS), and People in Need. Currently, the company has a partnership with only UNICEF.
Donations for Ukraine
The donation will add to another crypto crowdfunding project known as "Humanity First - Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund," which aims to raise roughly $20 million. In a statement, Binance urged others to support Ukraine by directly donating crypto.
People who wish to support the cause can use BNB, BUSD, bitcoin, and ether to donate to the funding. In an email, a Binance spokesperson said that other charities could be added in the future. The money raised in the project will be used to "support logistics on the ground such as food, fuel, and supplies for refugees in countries bordering with Ukraine and more," as per Coindesk.
After posting appeals on social media platforms, the Ukrainian government was able to raise roughly $13 million in cryptocurrency as donations. The government's official Twitter account appealed for digital asset donations on Saturday after Moscow's full-scale military operation.
Ukrainian Vice-Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov posted on the social media platform his requests for support of the Ukrainian population. He urged people to donate cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Tether.
According to Reuters, as of Monday at 8:50 GMT, the wallet addresses were able to raise roughly $12.8 million from 17,300 donations. The numbers were released by London-based Elliptic, which tracks the movement of digital coins on the blockchain, which is a public ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions.
Funds for Military Weapons
Furthermore, the Ukrainian embassy to the Czech Republic has also launched a crowdfunding campaign, but unlike before, this project aims to raise money that will be used to purchase weapons. The equipment will be distributed to Ukraine's armed forces to support them in fighting against the Russian invasion.
The embassy in Prague launched the project on Saturday through social media and asked people to donate to the fund to help procure military equipment. The Kyiv command wrote a list of items that would be purchased using the money.
"We call on all to financially support the fundraiser for immediate assistance in procurement of military equipment for the Ukrainian Army and citizen self-defense units. The Armed Forces and the Defense of Ukraine now urgently need military material to defend their homes, country, and national sovereignty," the embassy said on Saturday on its official Facebook page, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Several other donation projects aim to help Ukraine in this time of crisis, including one from UkraineDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that was made for the country. The founding member of the "conceptual protest art group," Nadya Tolokonnikova, announced the funding earlier this week.
