Ukraine Sells Cryptopunk NFT for One-third Of Its Donated Price

2022-07-13, 03:21

[TL; DR]
Currently cornered by cross-border sanctions and a frightening war that escalates every day, Ukraine has taken matters into its own hands, selling off one of the world's highly valued Non-fungible Token (NFT) – the CryptoPunk NFT – as a measure to secure unhindered financial aid against its opposition; the Russian government.

Ukraine joined the European Blockchain Partnership as an observer, becoming the third country - After Norway and Liechtenstein - to do so. This move seems to be a foundational block for the country to increase its blockchain network in other countries.

Keywords: Ukraine, CryptoPunk NFT, donation, blockchain.

Introduction

Ukraine has raised $135 million in Crypto donations since it made its wallet public earlier in the year. This income includes a $6.75 million single sale of the Ukrainian flag NFT. These donations have massively supported Ukraine's purchase of non-lethal supplies for its military.

On the 1st March 2022, CryptoPunk 5364 NFT was donated to Ukraine by an anonymous wallet (user 0x165cd3). At the time of initial purchase, the artwork was valued at 16.19 ETH, of which its figures were hovering around $31,000. At the time of donation, it was valued at 56 ETH ($150k+).

A mouth-watering bid was soon received by the Ukrainian government on the 17th of April, as an anonymous buyer offered to buy the NFT for 100 ETH ($288,414). This offer was the highest bid the digital asset had ever received.

On the 20th of June 2022, Alex Bornyakov – Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation – took to Twitter to announce the country's sale of a CryptoPunk NFT donated to the country a few months back for 90 ETH. The sale proceeds would consolidate efforts to aid its fleeing citizens.

Although the artwork was sold for 90 ETH ($102,640), a total of $103,523 was paid by the user, as gas fees were included. It should be noted that other circumstances, such as the fall of bitcoin and other digital currencies, the present bearish run of the market and other harsh conditions plummeted the price of the art. Had the NFT been sold in March, the art would have been worth over $267,000.

The European Blockchain Partnership

The CEO of Virtual Assets of Ukraine - Konstantin Yarmolenko - stated in an interview with Coin Telegraph that Ukraine's running of test nodes of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI), as well as pilot use-cases of several cross-border services in the country, were all hinged on the interests of the country on the blockchain technology.

He further noted that the Crypto donations made to the country during these times of unrest "proved as important support."

He quipped:
"Next step is full blockchain integration of Ukraine and EU based on EBO/EBSI initiatives."

Conclusion

Ukraine's use of digital currencies in these periods has shown the massive potential these digital currencies possess, especially in cases where fiat currencies have become increasingly difficult to access and use in transactions.

Author: Gate.io Observer: M. Olatunji
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