Ukraine received funding support in form of NFTs

[TL; DR]

1. Some organizations and individuals generated funds from NFTs which they donated to Ukraine.
2. UkrainDAO, RELI3F and Timepieces are examples of organizations that donated funds to Ukraine.
3. Humilevskiy’s self-potraits are a symbol of resistance to the Russian invasion.
4. Ukraine plans to mint NFTs to raise funds to cover some of its war expenses.


The conflict in Ukraine has shown a new trend where people can help one another during times of war or peace through donations and moral support. This is because people around the world have managed to use both cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens to raise money to help Ukraine.

Following a call from the Ukrainian government for people to support it during these difficult times, individuals and organizations have raised more than $52 million dollars in cryptocurrencies, showing the power of decentralised finance.

After this early successful funding campaign, the Ukrainian government announced its willingness to receive donations in non-fungible tokens. As expected, the world responded in a positive way since much financial support was received through NFTs. However, people also used NFTs to give morale boost to the country devastated by war.

Organizations that have offered financial and morale support to Ukraine

As we shall see, there are several blockchain based organizations that have given funding support to Ukraine using NFTs. Thus, according to the Washington Post, the Russian-Ukraine war has become the “world’s first crypto war” as it has set a new record. It is the first war in which funds to support a country in war and the associated humanitarian crisis have come from digital assets including cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Previously, countries at war used to raise funds through bonds.

UkraineDAO
One of the active organizations that support Ukraine using NFTs is UkraineDAO. Backed by Nadya Tolokonnikova, a member of Russian activist group Pussy Riot, the organization has, so far, raised over $6.7 million to support the Ukrainian military. For example, it spearheaded the sale of the tokenized Ukrainian flag, with the funds going to the Come Back Alive campaign set up to help the Ukrainian military.


Holy Water
More than 500 digital artists from Ukraine have come together to submit art to a collection which Holy Water managed, aimed at raising funds to support the country during the war time. What is remarkable is that about 60% of the team members of Holy Water live in Kyiv. Some of the biggest Ukrainian galleries that participated in this campaign are Port Agency, IZOLYATSIA and Ugallery. The starting bid of each NFT is 0.08 ETH and people aim to raise at least $1 million from this initiative.

Timepieces
A web3 NFT community from TIME magazine, Timepieces, started an exhibition dubbed ‘Make art not war’ in order to raise funds to support Ukraine during the time of war. According to the organization, the total sum will go towards Ukrainian humanitarian assistance.

RELI3F
RELI3F has, so far, generated over $1 million worth of ETH through the sale of NFTs in order to raise funds to support Ukraine. Once again, this organization donates the funds to the Come Back Alive initiative and to selected Ukrainian media organizations as well as to frontline workers. However, it will also support the humanitarian initiative in case the destabilisation continues.

Individuals that offered financial support to Ukraine

There are many artists and other individuals who have contributed to Ukraine through generating funds using NFTs. These include Ukrainian boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko, Shepard Fairey, Humilevskiy and Haru Komoda, among others.

Waone Interesni Kazki
One of Ukraine’s famous artists, Surrealist Waone Interesni Kazki,is selling his famous paintings in order to financially support Ukraine during the war. The artist wishes to donate 50% of the proceeds to Ukraine's defence and medical supplies through the relevant charity organizations. Through selling some of his best paintings such as The Seed of a Good Idea, Beta to Alpha Transition and Prisoned Mind, the artist aims to raise at least $7 thousand.

Olive Allen
Olive Allen, who is Russian by origin but based in New York, is auctioning her piece of art, НЕТ ВОЙНЕ (No to the War) which is a blue bear with yellow features, holding a placard. Olive is among the 59 artists who donated artworks through the initiative of Time magazine and OpenSea NFT marketplace. In a show of great solidarity with the Ukrainian people, Olive said that although she is Russian she is against the devastating war and the Russian government.

Humilevskiy
Artem Humilevskiy contributed moral support to the Ukrainians. When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Humilevskiy, who is a Ukrainian photographer and NFT artist, posted a tweet. This tweet had his photograph in which he stood naked in a blooming mustard field. He had a toy fan in his right hand pointing to the sky. He also pointed to the yellow field using his left hand.

The tweet has these words: “This is my flag, my country, my Ukraine!!! We are the yellow fields and blue sky; we are a proud and free people! And we need the world’s support as never before, share any Ukrainian symbols! Only with the world, we can defeat the aggressor!!!!” He also minted a similar photo which sold for 1.25 ETH.

What is significant about Humilevskiy’s self-portraits is that they have become a symbol of resistance against the Russian occupation. Many NFT artists have been sharing his photos as a sign of solidarity.

Wladimir Klitschko
The Ukrainian boxing legend, Wladimir Klitschko is another high profile personality to release a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT) in order to support the Ukrainians in their fight against Russia.

Wladimir collaborated with WhilseBe to create the collection entitled “Vandalz for Ukraine” which is available to mint in a tier pricing model for $100, $1,000 and $10,000. He aims to donate the proceeds to Red Cross Ukraine and UNICEF which will disburse the donations to the needy people in the country.

Ukraine to mint NFTs for war support

After getting overwhelming financial support from the crypto community, Ukraine is pushing the agenda to mint and sell its NFTs in order to generate more funds to use during the war. Ukraine’s vice-prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, announced on Twitter that his country will mint NFTs and raise more funds to support its military budget. However, at the moment, it is not clear whether or not the NFTs will be transferred for free or they will go on auction.

Minting and trading NFTs
Of course, there are many artists out there who want to contribute in similar ways or want to mint their own NFTs. Gate.io is a cheap and trustworthy site to do so.

To mint NFTs, you head to the Gate.io NFT Magic Box. By the way, Gate.io is a top centralized exchange, which is secure, transparent and reliable. Also, it has an easy to use interface. The fascinating thing is that anyone can mint NFTs without paying anything.

If your NFT is live, you can use the Initial Coin Offering facility to launch it, thereby increasing your chance to secure investors for your token. As a fact, Gate.io has more than four million subscribers, meaning that there are a large number of potential buyers for your NFTs.

Apart from creating your NFTs, you can also purchase quality NFTs in the marketplace. Therefore, NFT Magic Box has almost everything relating to NFTs you may want.

Conclusion

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When the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out, Ukraine sought support from the crypto community to raise funds to finance the demands of the wars as well as offering humanitarian assistance to civilians. The country got donations in the form of cryptocurrencies and NFT generated funds. Digital artists and other well-known personalities created their NFTs and donated the proceeds to Ukraine.



Author: Mashell C. , Gate.io Researcher
This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
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