Both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict are funded by crypto.
Over 54 pro-Russian volunteer groups have collectively raised $2.2 million in crypto donations to fund the war effort in Ukraine. report From Chainalysis on Friday.
The blockchain Analysis firm said most of the funds were transferred Bitcoin ($1.45 million) and Ethereum ($590,000), sent a “significant amount” tether, litecoinWhen Dogecoin likewise. Most of the funds were donated to a handful of top groups, with one account receiving her over $1 million in cryptocurrency.
Social media posts from the group indicate that the majority of these funds are being used to equip paramilitary groups, Chainalysis said. About half of the accounts collecting donations publicly solicited support for militias in Donetsk and Luhansk, which are licensed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), according to the report.
American politicians such as Senator Elizabeth Warren concerns raised Earlier this year, Russia could use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions. Chainalysis today highlighted a pro-Russian group that claims to be doing just that. Project Terricon, which is soliciting cryptocurrency donations to support militia groups in Russia, said it “explicitly states on its website that it uses cryptocurrencies due to sanctions.” the report said.
Chainalysis co-founder Johnny Levin Insisted In March, the possibility of cryptocurrencies being used to evade sanctions was said to be limited. This is because large amounts (say, $1 billion or more) can be easily tracked on public blockchain networks. However, a report from a crypto tracking company today suggests that small crypto donations are indeed possible, and perhaps even attractive, to licensed entities.
According to Chainalysis, the $2.2 million received by the Russian group is still small compared to tens of millions of dollars. donated On the Ukrainian side of the war effort in March. Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, has publicly called for donations in cryptocurrencies since the start of the war.
As of March, crypto analytics firm Elliptic estimated the total amount raised by the Ukrainian group in crypto donations at $64 million, while Bornyakov himself said it was “nearly $100 million” at the time.
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