On Saturday, February 26, while Russian troops bombarded Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, the country’s vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted an appeal for donations in cryptocurrency. Reuters described this crypto crowdfunding appeal as “unprecedented”, pointing out that Ukraine’s online appeal for direct donations was the first of its kind. Within approximately 24 hours, the Ukrainian government had raised almost $8 million in cryptocurrencies from 11,500 donations.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the biggest military assault on a European state since World War II. While Ukrainian forces and civilians have been putting up a determined resistance to Russian troops on the ground, a battle has also been underway on another front: the internet.
