Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the crypto and NFT community across the globe has come forward to support Ukrainians in a number of ways. While some donated directly to Ukraine’s official ETH wallet, several artists launched new NFTs to raise funds for Ukraine. On the other hand, some community members set up new DAOs to support the civilians of the war-torn country.
So far, Ukraine has received around $100 million in crypto donations, according to CoinDesk. This includes a CryptoPunk worth around $33 million. If you wish to donate to Ukraine through NFTs, below are five projects that are raising funds for the nation.
WeSupportUkraineNFT
In the case of most NFTs and DAOs raising funds for Ukraine, the funds first go to the creators. Then, the funds are transferred to other charities or Ukraine’s ETH wallet. This is where the WeSupportUkraineNFT project stands apart. Instead of collecting funds in the creator’s wallet, all proceeds directly go to Ukraine’s official ETH wallet.
Basically, WeSupportUkraineNFT offers an unlimited supply of NFT badges. “We developed a smart contract so that every proceeding would go straight to Ukraine’s official ETH wallet without ever reaching any other wallets,” the project notes on its website. “In order not to waste ETH for gas fees, donations from smart contract are withdrawn once a day.”
The project was founded by “some regular people” who are against Russia’s Ukraine invasion. You can mint the NFT on WeSupportUkraineNFT’s website.
RELI3F
RELI3F is a humanitarian aid initiative founded by the Web3 community. The team members include 37 influential figures from the Web3 space, including Andrew Wang, Giovanni Gussen, Satvik Sethi, and SignorCrypto. Launched last month, the project raised over $1 million in 30 seconds of the initial launch. While 100% of the primary sales support relief efforts in Ukraine, all the royalties from the secondary sales will either support the earlier efforts or support Ukrainian artists, charity, and/or art initiatives of the supporting artists’ choice.
Several reputed NFT artists, such as Danny Cole, Vinnie Hager, Sartoshi, Hawkward, and more contributed their artworks to the Ukraine relief project for free. On February 27, the project donated around half of the primary sales to three Ukrainian non-profits—Come Back Alive, Local Ukrainian Media, and Hospitallers. At the time of writing, RELI3F has generated 699 ETH (around $1.8 million) in trading volume on OpenSea.
You can buy NFTs from the RELI3F project on OpenSea.
Vandalz for Ukraine: NFTs by WhIsBe x Wladimir Klitschko
Ukrainian boxing champion and two-time heavyweight world champ, Wladimir Klitschko has launched an NFT collection to raise funds for his country. Wladimir is also the brother of Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv and former world boxing champion. Created in partnership with artist WhIsBe, the collection, called ‘Vandalz for Ukraine’ dropped on OpenSea on March 9. For the drop, WhIsBe has reimagined his iconic ‘Vandal Gummy bears’ in the colours of the Ukrainian flag—yellow and blue.
The NFTs are available for a total of three weeks at three different prices—$100, $1,000, and $10,000 each. In addition, the duo is auctioning a unique 1-of-1 NFT for $1 million. The entire proceeds from the sales of the collection will go to Red Cross Ukraine, UNICEF Ukraine, and Ukrainian relief funds to support their efforts to provide humanitarian relief to Ukrainians.
You can buy the NFTs on OpenSea.
UkraineDAO
Last month, Pussy Riot‘s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova launched a new DAO, UkraineDAO, to support the war-stricken country. Launched in collaboration with FreeRossDAO’s Alona, PleasrDAO’s CryptoStΞvΞ, and Trippy Labs’ Trippy, the DAO sold a 1/1 NFT of the Ukrainian flag. The 72-hour-long auction saw bids pouring in for the cause and ultimately raised 2,258 ETH or around $6.75 million at the time. Furthermore, the organisation will give POAPs (Proof of Attendance Protocol) to everyone who placed a bid.
“We purposefully avoided adding our own art to this release, in a way it’s our strong conceptual artistic statement,” Tolokonnikova said at the time. “People can have different aesthetics, but it’s not about what color we prefer, it’s about uniting to save lives. The Ukrainian flag unites us.”
Even though the NFT auction is over, those who wish to contribute can still donate directly to UkraineDAO.eth.
Ron English — Ukraine Relief NFT Drops
NFT marketplace, VeVe and American contemporary artist, Ron English have partnered for two digital collectible drops to support humanitarian efforts for Ukraine refugees. The two will donate all the proceeds from the primary sales to the New Zealand Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross for Ukraine refugee relief.
The first drop, called ‘Grade School Guernica 2022’, is English’s interpretations of Picasso’s Guernica. With a total of 4,444 editions, each piece costs $100. Next, ‘Sunflower Grin — Special Mission’ features a recurring motif in the artist’s works. Besides, the sunflower is Ukraine’s national flower. There are 5,555 NFTs in the collection and is priced at $60. It is available in silver and gold editions.
The drops went live on VeVe on March 12. You can download the VeVe app to buy the NFTs.
So far, over two million people have left Ukraine following Russia’s invasion. As the humanitarian crisis worsens, you can do your bit by donating to various charities and organisations. Our list is in no way exhaustive and there are several other NFT projects that you can support for this cause. But, remember to do your due diligence and ensure that the project/organisation you are supporting is genuine and are transparent about its donations. Besides, you can always directly donate to Ukraine’s ETH wallet.
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This article is educational material.
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