As Nobel Prize Winner Scores USD 100M for Ukraine, CryptoPunk Just Did Its Part Too
Ukraine has raised an additional USD 103,000 through the sale of a CryptoPunk non-fungible token (NFT), while a Nobel prize winner donated over USD 103m for Ukrainian child refugees.
The donated Punk was CryptoPunk #5364, and it sold for ETH 90 (USD 103,190), according to Alex Bornyakov, deputy minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
Breaking news on crypto donations: #CryptoPunk #5364 has been sold for 90 ETH. It's over $100K. Few months ago this NFT was donated for @_AidForUkraine fund. Crypto community continues to support Ukraine.
— Alex Bornyakov (@abornyakov) June 20, 2022
The Punk was sent to the country’s official Ethereum (ETH) address in early March. In April, Bornyakov said that he expects the CryptoPunk to fetch about USD 200,000. The price of ETH did drop significantly since then: in early April, it traded at around USD 3,500, whereas now (at 7:30 UTC) it stands at USD 1,150.
Meanwhile, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2021, auctioned off the gold medal and pledged to donate proceeds to help Ukrainian child refugees.
According to the Associated Press, the Nobel Peace Prize sold Monday night for USD 103.5m, shattering the old record for a Nobel.
“I was hoping that there was going to be an enormous amount of solidarity, but I was not expecting this to be such a huge amount,” Muratov reportedly said in an interview after the bidding ended.
Muratov has pledged to send the proceeds to UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) in order to help the charity organization in its efforts to raise funds for children displaced by the war in Ukraine. Just minutes after bidding ended, UNICEF reportedly confirmed it had received the funds.
Online bids started on June 1 to coincide with the International Children’s Day, and it continued for nearly three weeks to end on World Refugee Day.
Muratov was the editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which was shut down in March amid the Kremlin’s clampdown on journalists in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to a June 11 tweet by Bornyakov, Ukraine has “raised over [USD] 135 million in crypto in response to the Russian invasion.” However, he noted that “the first wave of crypto donations has subsided,” calling for more help.
Ukraine began accepting crypto donations in late February shortly after Russian troops invaded the country. Ever since, the country has been doubling down on crypto fundraising attempts.
Back in May, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched a new fundraising platform, dubbed United24, which accepts donations in more than 100 different cryptoassets.
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Learn more:
– Ukraine’s New Fundraising Platform Supports Over 100 Cryptos
– Ukrainian Eurovision Winner Sells NFTs in Support of Ukraine’s Defense
– Ukraine Will Auction Off Received NFT Donations
– Watch & ‘Invest in Peace’: Ukrainian Deputy PM Raps to Encourage More Crypto Donations
– Exclusive: How the Ukrainian Crypto Fundraising Started, How It’s Going, and What’s Next
– Ukraine Doubles Down on Crypto-Friendly Regulation Efforts, Aims for Top Spot
