Ukraine aims to utilize the revenues from the sale of its NFTs to repair museums, theatres, and other cultural and historical facilities devastated during the country’s conflict with Russia.
Ukraine sold 1,282 NFTs on the first day of sales for a total of 190 Ether (ETH) or about $655,000 at the time of writing, Bloomberg News reported, citing an email from the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
The revenues will be used to rehabilitate cultural and historical facilities including museums and theatres that were devastated during the country’s conflict with Russia.
Throughout the day, the Ukrainian MetaHistory NFT-Museum tweeted updates on sales, with the final public total announcing 1,153 NFTs sold for more than $500,000. Additionally, the government declared that it will give away one of the one-of-a-kind NFTs for free to commemorate reaching the half-million threshold.
Additionally, META HISTORY revealed that only NFT owners would be entitled to acquire the prospect of 100 winning artworks, as well as the project’s first four artworks.
Ukraine’s dependence on cryptocurrency during the conflict
When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February, individuals from all over the globe started contributing cryptocurrency to different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) assisting in the war effort. Ukraine hopped on board swiftly and started issuing official wallet accounts to which anybody could contribute.
The crypto community and business responded in force, donating millions of dollars in bitcoin and even NFTs. According to the government’s official contribution page, the country has received more than $70 million in cryptocurrency since the conflict started.
Ukraine currently allows contributions in a variety of cryptocurrencies and is the fourth largest cryptocurrency adopter in the world. Additionally, it now recognizes cryptocurrency as a legal asset.
Ukraine said that in response to the enormous flood of contributions, it will do an airdrop for everyone who gave ETH. However, less than a day later, the nation announced the cancellation of fledgling plans to airdrop an official cryptocurrency in favor of releasing NFTs to generate revenue.
Bitcoin is a philanthropic instrument
Both Ukraine and Russia’s citizens resorted to cryptocurrency in an attempt to save their money as their respective banking systems crumbled under the weight of conflict and sanctions.
Alex Gladstein, the Human Rights Foundation’s senior strategy officer at the time, described Bitcoin (BTC) as a “critical humanitarian instrument” that enables individuals to live in difficult situations such as war.
Gladstein remarked: “The fact that it cannot be frozen, that it cannot be filtered, and that it may be utilized without identification is critical.”
Also Read: The Illiquidity of Bitcoin Is Approaching a New All-Time High
