Pro-Russian groups collected only 4% of crypto donations sent to Ukraine

"While significant, the $2.2 million in crypto donated to pro-Russian organizations still pales in comparison to the dozens of million crypto donated to Ukraine,” Chainalysis said.

According to data from crypto-analytics firm Chainalysis, users have sent more than $2 million worth of crypto to 54 pro-Russian groups since Feb. 24, a fraction of what many government-controlled wallets receive. Ukrainian government.

In a blog post on Friday, Chainalysis said it 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. According to data from Chainalysis, users sent approximately $2.2 million to pro-Russian groups, including more than $1 million to just one anonymous account.

While there may be other groups outside of Chainalysis's investigation of those supporting pro-Russian forces, available data suggests the $2.2 million in donations amount to around 4% of crypto sent to support Ukraine. Wallet addresses connected to Aid for Ukraine, a platform backed by the government's Ministry of Digital Transformation, showed the organization had received over $45 million in crypto since its launch in March. Crypto exchange Binance, which facilitates donations through its emergency relief fund for Ukraine, reported over $10 million received since February.

Russia and Ukraine have suffered heavy losses since the invasion began. Aid for Ukraine indicated that the crypto sent to its wallets would be used to support the country's military and humanitarian projects; Meanwhile, Chainalysis reported that the $2.2 million sent to pro-Russian groups could be used primarily for military equipment and for...