Both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict are funded by crypto.
Over 54 pro-Russian volunteer groups have collectively raised $2.2 million in crypto donations to fund the war effort in Ukraine. report From Friday’s Chainalysis.
of Blockchain Analysis firm said most of the funds were transferred Bitcoin ($1.45 million) and Ethereum ($590,000), sent “significant amount” tether, LitecoinWhen dogecoin likewise. Most of the funds were donated to a few top groups, with one account receiving over $1 million in cryptocurrency.
“Social media posts from the group show that the majority of these funds are being used to equip paramilitaries,” Chainalysis said. The report claims that about half of the accounts collecting donations are publicly soliciting support for militias in Donetsk and Luhansk, areas sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
U.S. politicians such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, concerns raised Earlier this year, Russia could use cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions. Chainalysis today emphasized a pro-Russian group claiming to be doing just that. “We have explicitly stated on our website that we are using cryptocurrencies because of sanctions,” said Project Tericon, which is soliciting donations in cryptocurrencies to support Russian militia groups. The report states.
Chain Analysis Co-Founder Johnny Levin Insisted Back in March, crypto could be used to evade sanctions, given that large amounts (e.g. $1 billion or more) could easily be tracked on public blockchain networks. However, a report from a crypto tracking company today suggests that small crypto donations are indeed possible, and perhaps even attractive, to licensed entities.
According to Chainalysis, the $2.2 million received by the Russian group is still small compared to tens of millions of dollars. Donate On the Ukrainian side of the war effort in March. Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, has publicly called for donations in cryptocurrencies since the start of the war.
As of March, crypto analysis firm Elliptic set the total collected by the Ukrainian group to $ 64 million in crypto donations, but Bornyakov himself said it was “nearly $ 100 million” at the time.
