Founder Alona turned to DeFi to help Ukrainians in conflict

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, cryptoculture may have been the last thing on the minds of a horrified population. Communication lines and supply routes were severed. Families rushed to receive news of loved ones left behind in Kyiv and eastern Ukraine.

However, in the misty chaos that followed, web3 technologies proved to be a valuable tool for the Ukrainians as they struggled to cope with the bombing raid led by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his generals.

in the gap

Quickly, decentralized autonomous organizations rushed into the breach, forming teams to disseminate information about the rapidly changing battlefield and provide crucial financial support to Ukrainian civilians.

On February 25, Near Protocol co-founder Illia Poloshukhin and other blockchain advocates launched the Unchain Fund. Launched on AstroDAO, a Near-based platform for creating DAOs, it raised $1.8 million in five days to fund humanitarian relief efforts for Ukrainians.

On the same day, The Defiant reported that a decentralized collective called the UkraineDAO had attracted thousands of members and was staging an NFT drop to raise funds to support Ukraine.

The mint raised 2,258 ETH worth $7 million over five days which were distributed to nonprofits working on the ground, including come back alivea foundation that provides equipment and training to the Ukrainian military that has raised $130 million.

Alone

The Defiant spoke with Alona Shevchenko, co-founder of UkraineDAO. Alona is a Ukrainian living in the UK and was an active member of FreeRossDAO. Alona was working to help health organizations that support Ukrainians who require complex medical care and medications, such as type 1 diabetes.

She said that UkraineDAO arose spontaneously from discussions she had with FreeRossDAO and PleasrDAO.

UkraineDAO raises $7 million and builds a global network of supporters, says co-founder Alona

Alona, ​​co-founder of UkraineDAO, told The Defiant that the group is rapidly building a global network of supporters for the embattled nation.

Alona grew concerned after speaking with a friend living in the Ukraine and later wrote an open letter warning about the military buildup that was posted on the FreeRossDAO blog on February 21. Alona had also met with members of PleasrDAO while attending the anti-Russia protests in London on February 16, with the UkraineDAO forming a group call between her and the two DAOs soon after.

In March, UkraineDAO donated 4 million dollars to come back alive. The contribution is the largest single donation received by the organization.

Human rights

In April, Alona mobilized eight vehicles from her parents’ trucking business to distribute humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including food from the UN World Food Program. trucks raised with UkraineDAO continued to transport supplies to the country today, with Alona telling The Defiant that the fleet numbers approximately 30 vehicles.

In June, UkraineDAO began working with Starling Lab, an academic research organization, and Hala Systems, a Hedera-based company that uses distributed ledger technology to immutably record evidence of war crimes and human rights violations. Files documenting atrocities in Ukraine have been sent to the International Criminal Court, marking the first time the ICC has accepted evidence stored on a blockchain.

“This process establishes the provenance of the data and allows prosecutors to prove that it has not been tampered with from the field to the courtroom,” the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation wrote. The foundation worked with the Starling Lab to store its Holocaust Archive, a trove of 56,000 audiovisual testimonies reporting on crimes committed during Nazi Germany’s extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II, using blockchain technology.

In September, UkraineDAO co-hosted the Kyiv Tech Summit hackathon in association with Unchain Fund and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

bomb shelter

The hackathon was held in a bomb shelter and featured speeches by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder and chief scientist of Ethereum, also attended the event.

Buterin discussed UkraineDAO in an article exploring the use cases advocated by DAOs as vehicles for censorship resistance, decentralized decision-making, and “nation-state-like functions such as provision of basic infrastructure” some weeks later.

“An important part of this story is that Ethereum provided an opportunity to create a platform for Ukrainians who went unheard for decades,” Alona tweeted in September.

Blockchain teams in Ukraine fight and galvanize as Russia invades their country

Blockchain development teams in Ukraine are struggling to stay safe and complete their projects.

At the end of the month, Alona teamed up with another group of activists to launch IranDAO — decentralized collective work to support and raise awareness of the plight of Iranian women amid ongoing protests and government repression in the country.

In November, UkraineDAO became the first DAO in the world to receive formal support from a nation-state when the nation’s Ministry of Digital Transformation backed up your operations.