One should be careful of demonizing the tool which could avert the financial suffering of the Russian and Ukrainian people.
Economic and financial conflict cannot be separable from geopolitical warfare. It is just like the innocent civilians who fall prey to the violence during the war. This time however the advancement of cryptocurrency is slightly changing the dynamics. As the Russian military operation on Ukraine is sending shockwaves all around the world markets, many are advocating crypto digital assets as safe havens during this time of unrest and destruction. Naturally, Ukrainians and Russians are likely to benefit from this alternative of traditional finance.
On the Ukrainian side, cryptocurrency has been used for raising funds for millions of refugees who are migrating due to war and for the citizens who are staying to defend their country. Russian side narrative is more complicated, as some believe sanctions from NATO could be bypassed by oligarchs with the help of crypto, where 17.3 million Russian people have cryptocurrency who are certainly not oligarchs. One can be sensible enough to conclude that most of these people are innocent civilians who are trying to save their lives by using their crypto digital assets.
The Ukrainian crisis has proven that cryptocurrency has become a powerful instrument that is empowering the common people around the world to support them in their darkest times. Previously companies such as XMANNA used crypto for charity, metaverse giving 40% profits back to its users through rewards. Now crypto’s modest side of charity turned into supporting refugees of Ukraine and innocent people of Russia likewise.
Crypto is used as a lifeline by Ukrainian people who are forced to desert their usual lifestyle. So many donations have been received by the Ukrainian NGOs and government from outside of the war region in the form of Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) adding up to $108 million. Thanks to blockchain transparency it is now trackable how these donations are being used. The Ukrainian government has already used $15 million out of it on military supplies.
Where traditional options of fundraising takes normally five days in processing the wire transfers, the crypto transfers are instantly taking place. This is important for the people who need immediate cash for the purchase of their daily necessities or to secure their expenses before leaving the country.