Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Sep 15

Treasury Sanctions Pro-Russia Groups Raising Funds With Crypto

In response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury Department today announced the addition of 22 individuals and two entities tied to the Russian government to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list. The list includes entities that OFAC says supported Russia's invasion, including Task Force Rusich, an alleged neo-Nazi paramilitary group that the agency says participated in combat alongside Russia's military in Ukraine. "Today's action is being taken in...

Aug 18

Tanks in Kyiv, Ukraine. Image: Shutterstock

Ukraine Spent $54M in Crypto on Drones and Other Military Expenses

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister, shared yesterday how $54 million of the country’s crypto donations have been spent. Unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones) were the highest cost at $11.8 million. After that, the country spent $6.9 million on armored vests and $5.7 million on computer hardware and software. Overview of crypto fund spending. Source: Twitter. “Thanks to the crypto community for support since the start of the full-scale invasion," Fedorov tweeted. Over $60 million of...

Jul 29

Pro-Russia Groups Raise $2M in Bitcoin, Ethereum to Fund War: Chainalysis

Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are being funded by crypto. Over 54 pro-Russian volunteer groups have cumulatively sourced $2.2 million in cryptocurrency donations to fund war efforts in Ukraine, according to a report from Chainalysis on Friday. The blockchain analytics firm said that the vast majority of funds were sent in Bitcoin ($1.45 million) and Ethereum ($590,000), with “considerable quantities” sent in Tether, Litecoin, and Dogecoin as well. Most of the funds were donated to j...

Jun 20

Aerial view of the Ukraine flag in winter. (Shutterstock)

CryptoPunk Sale Raises $100K in Ethereum to Support Ukraine War Effort

The government of Ukraine announced today that its Aid for Ukraine crypto fundraising campaign sold a donated Cryptopunk NFT and raised over $100,000 to support its war efforts against Russia. Cryptopunk #5364 was donated to the Ukrainian crypto fund in March. Yesterday, the fund sold the NFT to an anonymous buyer for 90 ETH. NFTs are blockchain-based tokens that show ownership over digital or physical assets. Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation—the office respons...

Apr 21

Binance Limits Crypto Services to Russian Users After EU’s Latest Sanctions Package

Following the European Union’s (EU) fifth sanctions package against Russia, Binance has begun taking “restrictive measures” against Russian users and entities. Russian users with accounts holding more than €10,000 (~$10,900] in cryptocurrencies will face the brunt of these measures. If an account falls into this category, it “will be put into withdraw-only mode,” read Binance’s announcement. This means that these accounts will not be able to deposit any funds, and users will be expected to clo...

Apr 20

US Government Sanctions Russian Bitcoin Miner

The U.S. government today sanctioned a Russian Bitcoin miner, with the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control putting Moscow-based BitRiver on its Specially Designated Nationals list. Ten Russia-based subsidiaries of BitRiver AG, BitRiver’s Switzerland-based holding company, also were added to the list. It’s the first time the U.S. has sanctioned a cryptocurrency mining company. The sanctions are aimed at harming President Vladimir Putin and his allies in the wake of Russia’s inva...

Apr 19

IMF Warns Russia Could Use Bitcoin Mining to Evade Sanctions

The International Monetary Fund has said Russia could evade economic sanctions levied in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine by pivoting to cryptocurrency mining. The report specifically warns that Russia could martial its vast energy resources to power crypto mining and generate revenue. “Over time, sanctioned countries could also allocate more resources toward evading sanctions through mining. Mining for energy-intensive blockchains like Bitcoin can allow countries to monetize energy resources...

Apr 17

'Crypto for Good': Ukrainian Official Shares Photo of New Military Equipment

Ukraine's vice prime minister and minister of digital information, Mykhailo Fedorov, on Sunday shared a photo of what the war-torn nation is spending crypto donations on: 200 sets of ballistic plates for bulletproof vests. "The better equipped soldiers," wrote Fedorov, "the sooner day of Ukrainian victory." Ukraine began accepting donations in cryptocurrencies almost immediately after Russia invaded in late February. Tens of millions of dollars quickly flooded in—from individuals, crypto grants,...

Apr 8

EU Bans High Value Crypto Services to Russia Aimed at Closing Sanctions Loopholes

The European Union is taking further steps to sanction Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Announced today, the EU has introduced a prohibition on "providing high-value crypto-asset services to Russia." The prohibition forms part of the fifth package of restrictive measures announced by the EU against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. "The European Commission welcomes today's agreement by the Council to adopt a fifth package of restrictive measures against Putin'...

Apr 6

Janet Yellen in 2021. Image: Shutterstock

Yellen: 'We Haven't Seen Significant Evasion' of Sanctions Using Crypto

Since the U.S. introduced fresh sanctions on Russia in response to its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, prominent political figures and armchair observers alike have been asking whether cryptocurrency would allow the Kremlin to evade them. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has remained skeptical of that line of thought, stating in early March, "It's not that that sector is completely one where things can be evaded." Today, she declared during a hearing of the House Committee on Financial Services...

Mar 28

Japan Targets Crypto Loophole to Halt Russian Sanctions Evasion

Japan is set to revise its foreign exchange law to prevent Russia from evading economic sanctions via cryptocurrency, per Reuters. In a press conference today, chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that the government will submit a revised version of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act to parliament. The revised legislation “presumably enables the government to apply the law to crypto-asset exchanges like banks and oblige them to scrutinize whether their clients are Russian sanc...

Mar 25

Ukraine Launches NFT Museum of War on Ethereum and Polygon

With the country still under attack from Russian forces, Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation today announced the launch of the Meta History Museum of War, which features only NFTs. The "museum," as you can imagine, isn't a physical building but rather a website. Its collection, made with the ministry's support, chronicles recent events in the war between Russia and Ukraine, including personal reflections from both Ukrainian and international digital artists. But there's something of a c...

Mar 24

Russia Energy Committee Chair: We'll Take Bitcoin for Oil and Gas

You know how the old "Sound of Music" song goes: "How do you solve a problem like Maria international sanctions because everybody's mad at you for invading Ukraine?" Bitcoin, apparently. Pavel Zavalny, the chairman of the Russia's State Duma Committee on Energy, said during a videotaped press conference this week that the country would accept Bitcoin for its energy exports. According to a translated transcript, Zavalny said the West would either need to pay for oil using rubles or gold, while al...

Ukrainian Refugee With $2,000 in Bitcoin Reaches Poland

A Ukrainian refugee, who goes by the pseudonym Fadey, has reached Poland with $2,000 worth of Bitcoin held in a USB drive. “I couldn’t withdraw cash at all, because queues to ATMs were so long, and I couldn’t wait that much time,” Fadey told CNBC. The funds reportedly represent approximately 40% of his life savings. “I could just write my seed phrase on a piece of paper and take it with me.” Fadey also said that he made a peer-to-peer exchange with a friend, and traded $600 worth of his Bitcoi...

Mar 18

Crypto Phishing Groups Solicit Phony Aid Donations Amid Ukraine Conflict

Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, phishing scammers are masquerading as aid groups to solicit crypto donations, according to research published by cybersecurity firm Expel. “Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, threat actors have specifically begun to impersonate legitimate aid organizations to exploit people’s desire to support refugees and victims with donations,” Expel said. The cybersecurity firm’s research has unearthed several phrases in phishing emails that reference Ukraine, ma...

Mar 14

FTX and Everstake Launch Crypto Fundraising Site for Ukraine

The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation today announced, in partnership with FTX and Everstake, the launch of an official crypto fundraising site called Aid for Ukraine to help expedite donations to the war-torn nation. Currently, donations to Aid for Ukraine can be made in BTC, ETH, USDT, DOT, SOL, DOGE, XMR, ICON, EOS, and NEO. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried first announced the partnership last week. Incredibly excited and humbled to be working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance (@min...

Mar 13

Ethereum Co-founder Joe Lubin: Crypto Among Ukraine’s Best Weapons Against Russia

Crypto has proven a powerful weapon for Ukraine in its battle against Russia, with the crisis in Eastern Europe becoming “a point of no return” for crypto’s steady integration into global markets, said ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin. Lubin, the Canadian-American entrepreneur and Ethereum co-founder, shared these thoughts and others in a wide-ranging chat with Dan Roberts, editor-in-chief of Decrypt, which sponsored Camp Ethereal 2022. So far, at least $60 million in cryptocurrency has been channele...

Mar 11

Aerial view of the Ukraine flag in winter. Image: Shutterstock

Ukraine Has Collected Millions in Crypto Donations. Here’s How It’s Being Spent

Deputy Minister of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, Alex Bornyakov, today revealed how crypto donations sent to Ukraine have been spent on the country’s armed forces. “Crypto assets proved extremely helpful in facilitation of funding flows to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Huge thanks to everyone who donated to the Crypto Fund of Ukraine,” Bornyakov tweeted. He added that “each and every helmet and vest bought via crypto donations is currently saving Ukrainian soldiers’ lives.” Cry...

Mar 10

Crypto Sleuthing Firm Chainalysis Launches 'Sanctions Screening Tools' for DeFi, DAOs

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis today announced the launch of two new tools that will make it easier to screen cryptocurrency wallets for sanctions compliance. The tools include an on-chain oracle, which is available today, and an API—an application programming interface that acts as a connection between computers—expected to launch next month. “As countries around the world continue to leverage economic sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, decentralized Web3 groups l...

Mar 9

'Crypto Is Helping' Ukraine Amid Russia's Invasion, Says Deputy Minister

Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Alex Bornyakov today said that cryptocurrencies are helping Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion. “In a situation like this where the national bank is not really operating, crypto is helping to perform fast transfers, to make it very quick and get results almost immediately,” Bornyakov said today during a Collective[i] Forecast Zoom call attended by Decrypt. Bornyakov qualified his claim by adding that he doesn’t believe crypto donations are playin...

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