Stephanie Douse 
Near Protocol co-founder, Illia Polosukhin outlines how cryptocurrency has become a critical tool and a significant source of relief in Ukraine’s resistance.
“Crypto became the largest driver for humanitarian help as well as some of the military help for Ukraine”, said Illia Polosukhin
Polosukhin, a Ukraine-born crypto entrepreneur, has been in the vanguard of cryptocurrency fundraising efforts to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s offensive.
Polosukhin and other Ukrainian crypto entrepreneurs founded the Unchain Fund shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, raising roughly $7 million in bitcoin donations to date. That is just one of the numerous crypto funds that have raised more than $100 million in favor of the Ukrainian government in only a few weeks.
The borderless nature and speed of cryptocurrencies, as Polosukhin pointed out, proved to be highly beneficial in this emergency situation.
“You can create a full system, an NGO system in days. Instead of months it would take to create a new nonprofit, set up banks accounts, get all the legal structure, make sure that people can wire money to it without problems”, said Illia Polosukhin, the co-founder of Near Protocol.
Crypto donations are translated into local currencies once they reach the Unchain Fund via local cryptocurrency exchanges that are still operational in the jurisdiction.
Unchain Fund’s volunteers on the ground in Ukraine purchase the essential items and distribute them to civilians trapped in the crisis zone or forced to evacuate their homes once crypto is turned into fiat.
Ukraine’s President Volodimir Zelesnksy approved a law establishing a regulatory framework for bitcoin earlier this month. Polosukhin believes that the crisis has demonstrated the utility of cryptocurrency in a crisis situation and that this will lead to an increase in cryptocurrency usage in Ukraine.
“I think crypto will become a huge engine for future development of Ukraine”, he stated.