Pussy Riot becomes the largest ‘crypto patron’ in Ukraine and raises 6 million euros

Dissident punk singer Nadya Tolokonnikova has launched UkraineDAO auction. The DAO system (Decentralized Autonomous Organization, for its acronym in English) allows an exchange of funds through the blockchain. “The money is not going to be transferred automatically because we have to make sure it ends up in the right hands,” Nadya explained in a post-bid talk.

The funds will go to Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian non-profit initiative that has been looking for patrons to pay for weapons resources since 2020, although they also distribute bulletproof vests, first aid kits and helmets. But a few days ago the platform crowdfunding patreon deleted Come Back Alive account account because military funding goes against its foundations.

Therefore, UkraineDAO will use them exclusively for medical help. “We want everyone who has contributed money to feel comfortable and there were people who did not want it to be used for weapons,” said the artist when asked about the purpose of those 6 million.

“We heard that Ukraine was having a lot of trouble with their banking system because they are obviously in a state of emergency. Cryptocurrency has layers of protection against this. owners no borders. We don’t want governments or banks to control our funds,” Tolokonnikova said.

The 32-year-old is a well-known opponent of the Russian state and has been directing political campaigns on networks and artistic interventions since 2007, such as the chant against Putin in a church for which she spent two years in prison in 2012. “Colleagues, you did not believe us when we told you in 2008 that Putin was a real danger to the world,” she tweeted. She later blamed the traditional foreign exchange market for supporting the rise of the Russian president and used it as a reason to bet on the alternative market.

The founder of Pussy Riot is no newcomer to the blockchain and has repeatedly spoken out against the fiduciary system. The collective has 666 NFTs for sale on OpenSea, the largest online marketplace for digital files, at a price of around 1 Ethereum. That is, about 2,300 euros each. They are small and colorful drawingsstatic or moving, but which were not included in the auction for Ukraine.

“We purposely avoided including our own art in this release, as it’s a very strong artistic and conceptual statement of our own. People may have different aesthetics, but it’s not about what color we prefer, it’s about coming together to save lives. The flag of Ukraine unites us”, he clarified.

UkraineDAO gave the option to participate in the bidding from a social aspect and receive a love token, without utility or value, but as “a beautiful reminder of having contributed to a noble cause”. But cryptocurrencies could also be donated directly, a route that is still open for anyone who wants to contribute after the bid. “It’s okay if you don’t have money, you can always put a tweet with a hashtag, anything in order not to remain silent”, have said the other promoters of the campaign.

His initiative has ended up becoming the most successful among encrypted donations. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has received $31.7 million in cryptocurrencies, originating from more than 26,000 donations. The largest is that of UkraineDAO with almost 7 million dollars, surpassing that of the creator of Polkadot (another cryptocurrency), Gavin Wood, and his “generous donation of 5 million dollars”, as highlighted yesterday by the Ukrainian government’s Twitter account .