Crypto community rallies with Ukraine as local NFT artists’ works sell out

It appears that crypto enthusiasts worldwide are rallying in support of Ukrainians during the difficult times. 

According to reports, Bitcoin (BTC) donations to Come Back Alive, a non-governmental organization helping Ukraine’s military efforts, received $3 million in BTC in a single donation on Friday. Users also took to social media to ask the country’s Ministry of Defense to accept crypto donations, such as Tether (USDT). At the same time, the founder of Ukraine’s Kuna exchange created a crypto fund to assist charities in the country. 

Everyone! Thank you for all the support and donations! The current plan is separated into 3 parts to involve as many as possible

1) direct donations (aimed at individuals)

2) NFT Auction (via telegram & Opensea)

3) Project % pledge (aiming at collections and projects)

(1/4) https://t.co/eo4Vgyz95a

— dan//l pan (@pan_danil) February 25, 2022

On Friday, the outpouring of support gained further traction. Nonfungible token (NFT) artist “pan_danil” began organizing a campaign to direct donations, launch NFT auctions and pledge a percentage of project sales to NFT artists in Ukraine. At the time of publication, a group of volunteers had formed to curate a community list of Ukrainian NFT artists and links to their artwork on NFT platforms such as Rarible, Foundation and OpenSea.

I need a trackable list of Ukranian artists to support. Tweets/Lists not working…I spend time just wading through replies than helping.

If a few people can volunteer their time to add links for Ukranian artists to this Sheet it would be great. DM me.https://t.co/APeZEEGGjd

— Nik Kalyani (@techbubble) February 24, 2022

Related: Ukraine Bitcoin exchange volume spikes 200% as Russia war sparks currency concerns

Meanwhile, other Ukrainian artists, such as “voplividchau,” have reported their NFT drops selling out due to community support. But despite the successful sale, she wrote: 

It’s very scary in Kiev [Kyiv] now; it was scary at night, and what will happen next is so scary. I admire how brave people are here.

SOLD OUT Friends! I am eternally grateful for your support! Now it means HUGE!@Ac3033 @Art_via_lens @muradon13 @unblockgallery @ALCrego_ @SashaBAM @pleshkova_art @hen_collector @berni_omar @BayBackner @HowdyDooNFT @PapaBeardedNFTs https://t.co/B09E9itngB

— Chernaya Rechka (@voplividchau) February 24, 2022

NFT platform Orica, which launched an NFT campaign to help build a school in Uganda last year and coordinated an NFT charity drop to help victims of human trafficking, voiced its support for Ukraine’s NFT artists on Twitter. It also appears the platform is directly onboarding Ukrainian NFT artists for upcoming exhibitions. 

— Orica (@orica_io) February 24, 2022

Related: Twitter users ask Ukrainian armed forces to start accepting crypto donations