Ukraine Prepares to Sell off Donated NFTs to Fund War Effort

Ukraine is launching a website to sell around 300 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) received as donations in support of the country’s resistance to its invasion by Russia.

Around 5-10% of the NFTs are considered valuable, according to deputy minister of Digital Transformation Alex Bornyakov, including a CryptoPunk, valued at around $200,000.

Independent companies have also created 10 NFT collections for the website, to which they have pledged all the proceeds. Sales are expected to launch within the week and will be facilitated by OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. The NFT sale site is https://donate.thedigital.gov.ua/. 

“We just want to show how many people are doing this and how they are inspired by those events, and how they want to help Ukraine,” Bornyakov told Bloomberg. 

Although the Ukrainian government has been able to use crypto donations to raise funds for everything from body armor to medical supplies, the deputy minister believes “it’s even more impactful” to purchase the NFTs. “Then you can store a piece and it’s going to be with you until you decide to sell it,” he said. “It’s still out there, it still reminds people about what happened.”

MetaHistory NFT-Museum

Last week, Ukraine sold over $770,000 of “museum NFTs,” which depict Russia’s invasion of the country, featuring images of ruined buildings, fallen soldiers, and burning flags. 

Within the first day, the Ukrainian MetaHistory NFT-Museum sold 1,282 artworks for 190 ETH on behalf of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The sale is expected to conclude once sales hit $1 million, which could be as early as this week.

Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced the launch of the museum in a tweet. “While Russia uses tanks to destroy Ukraine, we rely on revolutionary blockchain tech, @Meta_History_UA NFT-Museum is launched,” he tweeted. “The place to keep the memory of war, and the place to celebrate the Ukrainian identity and freedom.”

Since then, Ukraine has received 32 bitcoins valued at around $1.5 million, bringing the total amount raised from digital coin donations to over $60 million. 

According to Bornyakov, the Ukrainian government has spent about $41 million on protective equipment and medical supplies. 

Another $20 million donation, collected by the Stellar Development Foundation, will be distributed among 66,000 Ukrainian refugees. Each will receive a digital wallet with $300 in crypto, and priority will be given to those with children and a low income.