If You Want to Ban Crypto, You Are Standing Against Ukraine’s Freedom

The government of Ukraine is openly soliciting crypto-donations via social media.

If you have been feeling anxious from the news of the war in Ukraine, you are not alone. I too have been unable to pay attention to much else. All of my writings in recent days have been related to the war and the role of cryptocurrency in the military conflict.

I was accused of “using people in a difficult situation” to promote “shit coins that nobody needs.” If you are interested to see the context, please see the two stories listed directly below:

Now we know who’s really standing against Ukrainian freedom.

Against the right for a nation to choose sovereignty versus vassalhood.

Against the cherished beliefs of peace, liberty, and international cooperation that the post-1945 world has tried to hard to build.

Remember that the Ukrainian government rushed to legalize cryptocurrency a few weeks ago? They must have been anticipating war. The government knew that cryptocurrency would be a critical tool in the war.

The Ukrainian government has started to solicit for crypto donations openly on social media.

Now, there’s no situation like a crisis for scammers to put fake links and fake crypto-addresses. Even Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, indicated his skepticism. He later rescinded his tweet as he confirmed that it was legitimate; Ukrainian officials confirmed that they had not been hacked.

Mykahilo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine sent a second tweet.

But wait, you say — Cryptocurrency cannot work without the Internet. What’s the point if the Internet goes down?

The answer is that Elon Musk has activated Starlink to keep Ukraine connected to the Internet in the event of critical damage to land-based connections.

It’s amazing to see the world rallying together to defend Ukrainian sovereignty.

I have written multiple times that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency have already become mainstream, despite the continued skepticism of Warren Buffett and his associate Charlie Munger.

Now, are they going to condemn the Ukrainian government for asking for crypto-donations? Are they going to call them out for using a “criminal” tool to defend their own sovereignty?

Cryptocurrency has become one of the tools for the Ukrainian government precisely because it is fast, it bypasses banks, borders, and other institutions, and it cannot be readily shut down.

At the time of writing, the Ukrainian government alone has raised over 13 million USD in cryptocurrency. The method of soliciting funds may be unusual perhaps, but crisis demands unusual methods.

It’s the reason why cryptocurrency was invented in the first place.

Before you start getting skeptical — evidence indicates that the Ukrainian government has already started to use the donated cryptocurrency to purchase critical supplies.

I do not normally write about politics, and I usually try to avoid talking about politics when writing about cryptocurrency — but I feel that it is finally time to take a stand in these troubling times.

Unlike Warren Buffett and his ilk, I don’t believe in a black-and-white narrative. I believe that cryptocurrency is agnostic. It has potential for both good and evil.

Now, having read all of this, if you still want to ignore this as an exception that doesn’t falsify your belief, and that Bitcoin is “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization,” even in the face of evidence that proves that it doesn’t have to be the case and can be in the interests of civilization, I only have one thing to say to you:

You are a hypocrite.

©Alvin T.

If you are interested in donating cryptocurrency, please click directly on the embedded tweets indicated in this story. This is to avoid any misdirection, misinformation, or scams.

To help Ukraine in more traditional ways, please check out Jared A. Brock's very helpful article here: Here Are 35+ Ways You Can Help Ukraine Right Now

Disclaimer and Disclosure: This is not financial advice to buy or sell any asset, digital or otherwise. The author holds some cryptocurrencies, but he does not own any Bitcoin at the time of writing.

Further Reading:

• Live Updates: Ukraine Government Turns to Crypto to Crowdfund Millions of Dollars (elliptic.co)
• Ukraine Government Is Using Crypto Aid to Purchase Critical Supplies (coindesk.com)

The author writes on a variety of topics. His key topics are Japan, society, culture, modern work, and cryptocurrency, with the occasional fictional story, creative piece, or reflective essay. Discover his most-read stories here.