Crypto Community Comes to Ukraine's Defense
“We have the power to help,” said the crypto investor, entrepreneur, and Bored Ape owner David Gokhshtein. “Web3 is positioned to help people during oppression,” agreed Stani Kulechov, the founder of Aave, a decentralized finance protocol.
The co-founder of Origin Protocol asked if any NFT creators were 'interested in linking up to do a 100% for charity drop for Ukraine relief.'
Some viewed the fight as confirmation of crypto's power. Ukrainians "need[ed] to move to cryptocurrencies rapidly to prevent the possibility of their bank accounts being confiscated or frozen," according to bitcoin YouTuber Matt Wallace.
The societal use of such technologies has been a hot topic in recent years, as swindlers and institutional investors alike profited from a slew of swiftly appreciating crypto currencies. As the globe teetered on the verge of a global conflict, the blockchain community rallied to Ukraine's defence, eager to demonstrate that their favourite technologies could, if not solve the problem entirely, at least help a little bit here and there. It was difficult to tell the difference between genuine efforts to help those in need and profiteering con artists.
Some groups, such as the Cosmic Cowgirls NFT, were content to just declare their support for the people of Ukraine and move on. Others stated that Thursday would not be a good day to invest in new digital assets. In a branded news statement, the NFT group Weather Report®—tagline: "Rain or Shine, We're Here"—announced that the minting of its distinctive digital assets would be delayed by 24 hours out of respect for the people of Ukraine.
“Our contract is live on mainnet, we are ready to go on our side - but today is not about us. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” they wrote.
However, not everyone was content to do nothing. Instead, some created art inspired by the terrible battle, with the promise of donating the revenues in some circumstances. The designers of eggsonyoface, a "free range and organic fried" NFT collection, commented, "I have decided to raise money the best way I can, using NFT's and our eggs." Another artist released a new track called "Invasion." At a moment's notice, NFTs of "ugly kittens" and Wall-E-like monsters were also created.
The company is providing $25 to every Ukrainian who uses its platform, according to Sam Bankman-Fried, the 29-year-old CEO of the Bahamian cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who is recognised for his incredible net worth of over $20 billion.
He tweeted, "Do what you have do."
Others adopted a more methodical approach. Pussy Riot, a Russian punk music band, created a DAO called UkraineDAO with the goal of using "the power of web3 tech and community to collect donations for Ukrainian organisations" and purchasing an NFT of a Ukrainian flag. "Let's save some lives," the SuperRare curator who is collaborating with the organisation remarked. "NFTs for Ukraine," a second group, stated it planned to generate funds using a three-pronged strategy of direct donations, NFT auctions, and a "independent pledge of sales."
Some people, notably NFT Twitch streamer Andrew Wang, are concerned about the possibility of Ukraine-related crypto scams. He remarked, "We'd have to make sure it's not a rug and that there's complete transparency." "Beware of anyone creating [an NFT project] to help the affected people in Ukraine," one member of the Bored Ape Yacht Club group, who claims to spend his time "playing on jpegs and magic internet money," agreed.
It could be impossible to tell whether people will follow through on their promises of benevolence or try an internet-savvy sort of war profiteering, as with many parts of crypto. For example, one NFT photo collector claimed that the reason he was buying as many pieces from Ukrainian photographers as possible—and then selling them for more on the secondary market—was so that he could use the money to promote Ukrainian artists even more.
As a "alternative approach to fight for peace," a "anti-war" cryptocurrency token was even launched with a whole website. "The STW token's programming code allows you to leave your 'STOP THE WAR' message on the blockhain [sic] for as long as you choose," the authors said.
Others wished that the web3 vision was closer to realisation, so that Russia and Ukraine might fight in an unidentified virtual metaverse where no one would be wounded. "Instead of torturing all the innocent people, Ukraine and Russia should buy an NFT World @nftworldsNFT and create their battle in the #Metaverse," one crypto fan said.
Of course, not all bitcoin activity could be directed toward the people of Ukraine, and many who continued to profit expressed reservations about selling digital photographs for hundreds of thousands of dollars as people died as a result of the war's terrible brutality.
"Combine happy and sad emotions. that on the worst day on the planet, I sold a shot for 125 ETH [almost $300,000] "What the real fuck," one NFT collector exclaimed. “Fuuuuck itttt 1 $ETH to 5 luckY winners. Follow, retweet, like, and leave a 'NFT' comment."
"NFT and prayers to Ukraine," someone replied.