“There is a problem with the bank accounts, something has happened – the transactions are stopped for some reason.”
– Ukrainian activist Walter Lechin a conversation on Twitter Spaces, discussing ways to donate in support of Ukraine.
Development in Eastern Europe has been central to much of the world over the past few days. Aggressive and consistent streams of reports from the land in Ukraine, when the country sees the invasion of Russian troops, dominate social broadcasts and headlines.
Reports of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which have been working directly with the Ukrainian government since 2015 and now accept bitcoin donations, have emerged from these updates on conflict and bloodshed.
Before continuing with this article, I would like to explicitly advise no one to donate any bitcoin funds until significant efforts are made to verify the addresses as best they can. This article is not intended to be a political recognition of support or a call to action. Significant efforts are currently being made by many countries involved in fraud and confusion of information and trafficking. Also, for those involved in live streams of footage and / or social media posts of this conflict: Do not click on links provided by countries you do not know or do not trust.
This is an extremely volatile situation and these areas have become a battleground for intelligence organizations, with hacker groups such as Anonymous joining the effort. Participating online in these areas can actively put you in the digital crossfire.
One such NGO is SaveLife, an organization that claims to allocate 50/50 funds between supporting veterans and victims of the war and equipping Ukrainian elements with the necessary equipment, such as bulletproof vests. SaveLife’s account has recently been frozen in Patreon – reflecting similar developments around the Canadian Freedom Convoy, as well as many other tangential scenarios that have occurred over the past two years for centralized organizations actively working to restrict freedom of information. of money transfer.
This non-governmental organization, also known as Come Back Alive, received BTC donations leading to the beginning of this latest escalation of aggression in Eastern Europe. At the time of writing, the SaveLife address has received a total of 152 BTC (worth about $ 6 million), which is almost 30% over a 48-hour period, with the Ukrainian government’s donation address accumulating a total of 15 BTC at the time of writing.
What the Ukraine-Russia conflict says about money and the state
This continuing, volatile situation highlights many concerns in the modern age.
First, the obvious: money around the world must be separated from the state, if not entirely, then at least partially / in parallel with current systems.
Ukrainians (especially it should be noted Walter LechUkrainian, who is currently in the United States but has been spreading news online for weeks about events such as his family remains in Ukraine as events continue to escalate) share disappointment with attempts to conventionally transfer funds internationally to support their families as well as their compatriots. Because these fiat rails provide too many friction points to get funds where they are most needed and on time.
Second, the bureaucracy and radically outdated systems of financial organizations continue to be powerless when dealing with real-world events, as they involve the rapid transmission of information in the modern era.
The rapid development of technology continues to create significant barriers to the effective dissemination and dissemination of information. As the mass media have proved to be a general farce about the events of the last two years in particular, these centralized entities continue to receive no legitimate and high-quality information while this is happening. Decentralized groups, affectionately referred to as open source intelligence (OSINT), are actively sought after as reputable sources by trusted reporters, such as Mark Goldbergas well as politicians, ambassadors and S2s of active service – proving the effectiveness, scope and efficiency of decentralized operations outside of the bitcoin network.
Third, these events also reveal how dangerous much of online activity is becoming. This dynamic also means that the vulnerabilities of centralized financial systems (on which most of the developed world rely) are becoming more serious. The reason for this is that the centralized entity, while acting as a digital fortress, also provides a point of attack – allowing aggressors and bad actors to focus their efforts on violating their defenses. It is very important to recognize that while some systems benefit from a blockchain, not all systems and mechanisms benefit from, let alone require, a blockchain mechanism.
I have already written for Bitcoin Magazine about the value of separating money from the state, which you can find here. Part of the reason for this article was to announce the launch of the Declaration of Monetary Independence, which is a digital product that allows signing, working like a petition that will have a physical display at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami this April.
This is a guest post by Mike Hobart. The opinions expressed are entirely theirs and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
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