First, my heart goes out to the people of the Ukraine and to the innocent victims of Russia’s brutal attack. The people of Ukraine are fighting for their lives. Hopefully, the international community will figure out a way to get Russia to stand down.
Since the invasion, there have been some interesting fintech (centralized finance) and DeFi (decentralized finance) developments.
Regulation by Central Authorities: In connection with the Ukraine’s declaration of martial law, the National Bank of Ukraine ordered electronic money issuers such as PayPal and Venmo to suspend the issuance of e-money and the replenishment of electronic wallets with e-money. The written order also indicated that the distribution of e-money was temporarily off-limits.
Trustless DeFi Solutions: As Ukraine cracks down on pathways to cash and Moscow unleashes airstrikes and ground troops, some Ukrainians are instead turning to cryptocurrencies. Kuna, a popular Ukrainian crypto exchange, shows that Ukrainian buyers are paying a premium for Tether’s USDT stablecoin, which is pegged to the price of the U.S. dollar.
Donations: New data from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic shows that over a 12-hour window, nearly $400,000 in bitcoin was donated to Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO providing support to Ukraine’s armed forces.
It seems that DeFi is empowering people to take at least some financial tools for value exchange into their own hands.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.