As Ukraine continues to suffer from Russian bombing, the government wants to be able to rebuild affected sites. A sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) raised over $660,000 on the first day, which will be used to bring cultural sites back to life.
Ukraine sells NFTs to fund reconstruction
The sale is supported by a virtual museum which has been named MetaHistory NFT Museum. The NFTs being sold document the war in Ukraine – they are pieces of art that represent the destruction the country has suffered over the past several weeks
Some NFTs from the collection, on OpenSea
According to an email quoted by Bloomberg media, the sale was an immediate success. 1,282 coins were sold in the first 24 hours, for a total of 190 ethers (ETH). This corresponds to a current price of over 660,000 dollars. Currently, the lowest price of the collection is around 0.19 ETH, or 665 dollars.
The virtual museum confirms that the aim of the sale is to reach one million dollars. The money will be used to rebuild cultural sites, such as theatres, museums, and various cultural institutions that were destroyed by the Russian invasion.
Ukraine continues to rely on cryptocurrencies
Contrary to what some commentators and politicians expected, Russia does not appear to have a substantive strategy with respect to cryptocurrencies. In contrast, Ukraine has been grabbing blockchain tools early on in the conflict, and this NFT sale is just another example. The strategy was further confirmed by the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov:
“We are using future technologies to document history and rebuild the economy of our country once the war is over. “
In total, the government of Ukraine reportedly managed to raise over $70 million in cryptocurrencies. It also received non-fungible tokens, which it has not yet sold.
This is, of course, the first time a war-torn country has relied on crypto-assets and blockchain in this way, showing their flexibility as the price of the local currency hryvnia (UAH) has fallen sharply in recent months.
