The first NFT from Ukraineâs âMeta History: Museum of Warâ collection. | Ivan Ponomarchuk / Ukraine Ministry of Digital Transformation
Ukraineâs government is raising funds by selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on a timeline of Russiaâs ongoing invasion of the country. Ukraine Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced the collectionâs launch on Twitter, boasting that âwhile Russia uses tanks to destroy Ukraine, we rely on revolutionary blockchain tech.â All sales funds will go to the Ministry of Digital Transformation to support the âarmy and civiliansâ of Ukraine.
The collection, titled âMeta History: Museum of War,â associates blockchain tokens with a news item about âevery substantial event of the warâ and an illustration from an artist. A total of 54 NFTs are currently listed, covering the first three days of the war in late February, with the first going up for sale early next week. The project is built on an NFT sales platform from blockchain company Fair.xyz.
While Russia uses tanks to destroy Ukraine, we rely on revolutionary blockchain tech. @Meta_History_UA NFT-Museum is launched. The place to keep the memory of war. And the place to celebrate the Ukrainian identity and freedom. Check here: https://t.co/IrNV0w54tg
â Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 25, 2022
The NFT launch, which was announced earlier in March, replaces an earlier plan to âairdropâ free tokens to people who had donated cryptocurrency to Ukraine. As chronicled by Vice, the airdrop plan suffered from a copycat scam and complaints that not all crypto donors would receive the tokens. Thereâs currently no stated plan to give earlier donors an advantage in the sale of the new NFTs.
Cryptocurrency has played a role on both sides of the war, but Ukraine in particular has used it to bypass banks and local currency limitations, as well as capitalize on crypto hype to solicit donations. The Ukrainian government has said it raised $54 million (which might be a significant understatement according to a different estimate) in cryptocurrency within the first three weeks.