Bitcoin Entrepreneurs in Ukraine Raise Funds to Aid the Opposition

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, crypto-savvy businesses with Ukrainian roots have started mobilizing their skills and networks.
Illia Polosukhin, a Kharkiv native who studied AI in Silicon Valley, contributed to the development of a widely used blockchain.
There have been a number of other crypto firms with operations in Ukraine removing workers and coordinating humanitarian aid initiatives.

In response to Russia's incursion, Ukraine's crypto-savvy businesses have started mobilizing their skills and networks.

Illia Polosukhin, a Kharkiv native who moved to Silicon Valley to gain skills in artificial intelligence, is one such case. For the past few months, he's been putting all of his resources on helping those in need and raising awareness.

Over $3 million has been raised in crypto donations for food, medication, and evacuation operations as a result of his work with other crypto businesses on Unchain.

The Ukrainian government's efforts to gather $50 million in bitcoin contributions have been successful. Polosukhin has also set up a temporary Ukrainian blockchain development hub from his base in Portugal, after relocating 50 workers from eastern Ukraine so far.

Several other crypto firms with operations in Ukraine have also started removing workers and coordinating humanitarian assistance. Despite the fact that many have relied on their own resources, others have tapped into their venture capital contacts to help fund their endeavors.

Polosukhin added, "There's really a fairly significant crypto community that has pretty much totally organized to help folks in Ukraine." In addition, many have had to cope with ex-employees returning from the front lines.

On the front lines, employees are contributing their time and effort.

The founder and CEO of Everstake, Sergey Vasylchuk, has faced challenges of his own. Even though he is now in Florida, he and most of his crew have elected to stay put in Ukraine, where his family currently resides.

Male employees, including Vasylchuk's head of security, have pledged to fight with their female colleagues, according to Vasylchuk.

Aid for Ukraine, a decentralized autonomous organization, was created with the help of the crypto staking business, FTX, and Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation.

The Solana blockchain's SOL token is used by the DAO to collect donations, which has already raised over $1.4 million.

Cryptocurrency is popular in Ukraine for various reasons, according to the Ministry of Digital Transformation: the country's large blockchain development community and tech-savvy people in general, onerous export and import rules, and the absence of a stock market.

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