Ukraine readies NFT sales as crypto donations top US$60m

[PORTLAND] Ukraine is launching a web page for selling the estimated 300 non-fungible tokens (NFT) it has received in donations to help in the nation's war effort.

The NFTs include a donated CryptoPunk that is expected to fetch about US$200,000, according to Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Only between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of the donated NFTs are valuable, he said in an interview. The Web page, which could be started within the week, will also offer 10 NFT collections created by independent companies that have pledged all the proceeds to Ukraine.

"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 said. The sales will happen via OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace.

Crypto donations have been utilised by the Ukrainian government as it tries to raise funds for everything from body armour to medical supplies. The nation sold about US$770,000 of what it refers to as museum NFTs, which debuted last week and show scenes from the war, Bornyakov said. The museum NFT sale could conclude as early as this week when the digital art sales hit US$1 million.

"I think it's even more impactful" than just making crypto donations, Bornyakov said. "Then you can store a piece and it's going to be with you until you decide to sell it. It's still out there, it still reminds people about what happened."

Ukraine had 32 Bitcoins valued at around US$1.5 million donated yesterday, Bornyakov said. It has raised more than US$60 million in digital coin donations to date.

So far, the Ukrainian government has spent about US$41 million on items such as bulletproof vests, helmets and medical supplies, Bornyakov said.

Meanwhile, another pledged donation will be used to help refugees. Within a few weeks, about 66,000 Ukrainians will get a digital wallet with US$300 of crypto, thanks to a US$20 million donation gathered by the Stellar Development Foundation, Bornyakov said. People with children and low-income residents will get priority, and the wallets can be used in MoneyGram locations, he said.

The NFT sale site will be accessible through https://donate.thedigital.gov.ua/. BLOOMBERG