According to Elliptic, an analytics firm, pro-Ukrainian accounts, either governments or humanitarian organizations, have raised 44 times more than Russian fundraising campaigns.
In the second year of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the winner in the crypto war between the two countries is being determined. And it’s not RF. Over the past year, receipts to pro-Russian blockchain wallets have grown by $5 million, and to pro-Ukrainian ones by more than $212 million, according to the study. It is reported by Newsweek.
Pro-Ukrainian accounts – whether official government organizations or humanitarian groups – have raised 44 times more than pro-Russian fundraising campaigns, including for the Russian army.
A report by blockchain analytics company Elliptic reveals that more than 10% of the crypto assets received by pro-Russian wallets are the result of illegal activity, from the dark web or illegal currency exchanges. Whereas less than 2% of transfers to pro-Ukrainian accounts are related to illegal activity.
Source: Elliptic | Monthly receipts of Bitcoin and Ethereum
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Cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation was initially considered as a way to avoid sanctions. According to Castellum.AI, Russia has become the country against which the most restrictions have been introduced. The total number of sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation or Russian companies before the large-scale invasion of Ukraine was 2,695, and after February 2022 – already 11,458.
Elliptic analysts noted that in addition to 10% of illegal transfers, another third of the funds that ended up on Russian wallets went through the so-called “crypto-mixer”. This is a service that mixes different cryptocurrency streams to make it harder to trace their origin.
Source: Castellum.AI | Russian sanctions, before and after the massive invasion of Ukraine
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Another study by Chainalysis showed that the peak of cryptocurrency receipts in the Russian Federation was observed in June 2022, which confirms the findings of Elliptic.
The head of the sanctions department at Chainalysis, a company that works with governments, said that the cryptocurrency does not go directly to the wallets of the Russian government, but is used to fund Russian troops.
“For these funds, they buy not tanks, but bulletproof vests or winter gloves for the military on the front line,” he explained.
The Elliptic analyst also described how the average pro-Russian Telegram channel collects donations using a “shopping list” that can list drones, radars, weapons, other gear, or even clothing and groceries.
Most transfers to pro-Russian wallets were observed in mid-2022, and to pro-Ukrainian ones at the beginning of the invasion. In the first weeks, about 60 million dollars in cryptocurrency were received, and in the first four days there were about 30 million.
Earlier, Focus reported that the cryptocurrency was at the forefront of the fight against Russia. Analysts from Elliptic Intel conducted an analysis of how Ukrainian organizations and volunteer groups use cryptocurrency.
Recall that the Waves cryptocurrency, developed by a Ukrainian, doubled in price during the war. Within two weeks, the price of the token rose from $9 to $26.
