Tom Wilson

LONDON (Reuters), a Ukrainian voluntary group providing equipment to Ukraine’s military has been given over $4,000,000 in bitcoin donations by Elliptic, a blockchain analysis firm.

Elliptic, an Elliptic company based in London, said that Ukrainian hacking and volunteer groups received more money than usual because of Russian troop movements near the border. However, Elliptic has been able to track transfers that have reached these groups in much greater amounts since the invasion.

Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian charity group, was able to receive $3 million from bitcoin alone, Elliptic reported. However, the identity of the people behind the donations is not clear as Bitcoin tokens and bitcoin can be sent anonymously.

As Russian forces advanced on Kyiv, missiles struck the city. Families were forced to hide in shelters and escape as they fired rockets at them. Authorities claimed that they are preparing for an attack to overthrow the government.

Come Back Alive is a Kyiv-based company that provides medical and kit supplies for the Ukraine’s military, as well as drones. It did not immediately reply to my request for comment.

Reuters was informed earlier this month by the group that they had raised $167,000 cryptocurrency in more than a dozen transactions, which took place between August and February. At the time, Come Back Alive said the funds remained unused and that it was saving cryptocurrency-denominated donations for “future projects.”

This demonstrates the increasing role of cryptocurrency in online fundraising. Partly because anonymity allows organisations raise money even though financial companies don’t permit or require strict control over funds transfers.

To curb money laundering, Ukraine has tightened controls on the transfer of funds and required ID verification to make cash transfers. Monitoring is also required for cross-border transfers.