Chainalysis: Pro-Russian Groups Raised Only 4% Of Crypto Donations Sent To Ukrain

Chainalysis, a crypto analytics firm, stated that users have sent more than $2 million in crypto to 54 pro-Russian groups since Feb. 24, a fraction of that received by many wallets controlled by the Ukrainian government.

iexclusivenews reports that in a Friday blog post, Chainalysis stated it had tracked funds sent to social media accounts controlled by pro-Russian groups in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), USDT-TRX, and Dogecoin (DOGE) starting with the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Data from Chainalysis shows that consumers contributed to pro-Russian organizations almost $2.2 million, with more than $1 million going to a single anonymous account.

Although there could be more organizations that aren’t included in Chainalysis’ assessment of those funding pro-Russian troops, the information that was made available revealed that the $2.2 million in donations represented around 4% of the cryptocurrency transferred in support of Ukraine.

Since its March inception, Aid for Ukraine, a website supported by the government’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, has received more than $45 million in cryptocurrencies, according to wallet addresses related to the network.

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance reported receiving more than $10 million in donations since February through its Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund.

Since the invasion started, both Russia and Ukraine have suffered significant losses and deaths. While Chainalysis indicated that the $2.2 million given to pro-Russian organizations may be used mainly for military equipment and to pay for propaganda sites.

Aid for Ukraine reported that cryptocurrency sent to its wallets will be used to help both the country’s military and humanitarian programs.

“While significant, the $2.2M worth of crypto donated to pro-Russian orgs still pales compared to the tens of millions of crypto donated to Ukraine,” said Chainalysis. 

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The donations given to Ukraine seem to have been done in accordance with international law. According to Chainalysis, roughly half of the cryptocurrency sent to the pro-Russian groups would be used to support military forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk territories of Ukraine. Which the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has specifically designated as being in violation of its sanctions.

According to Chainalysis, social media was apparently used by Alexander Zhuchkovsky, a Russian national who is also a Specially Designated National under OFAC’s sanctions, to promote the Terricon Project.

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The group is accused of supporting Russian actions in the fight against Ukraine by making cryptocurrency payments to the military in the Donbass region and selling bogus nonfungible token artwork.

Numerous international legislators have focused on cryptocurrency as a potential means by which Russian people and companies may circumvent sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing economic penalties placed on Russia by the United States.

Meanwhile, iexclusivenews Nigeria reports that in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law that forbade the use of digital currency as payment.