Key Takeaways:
- Finland would donate proceeds from seized bitcoins to assist Ukraine
- Currently, the value of the seized bitcoins is sitting at 73 Million Euros
The Finnish Government has revealed its plans to donate proceeds from seized bitcoins to assist Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia, according to a recent report by a local media outlet called Helsingin Sanomat. The report, which also cited several confidential sources familiar with the matter, noted that the bitcoins in question had been seized by the country’s customs during its investigations into drug trafficking.
According to the report, proceeds from the seized bitcoins have long gone to the country’s treasury. However, with the recent geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Government has decided to donate the funds to Ukraine. The report noted that the decision on how much to donate to Ukraine is yet to be finalized, but the potential worth of the seized bitcoins could be nearly 73 million euros ( USD 77 million) at current prices. The Finnish Government has already adopted the policy support Ukraine with bitcoins.
Even if the Finnish Government decides to donate a part of the revenue from the bitcoin sales, it would still amount to a huge amount and would go a long way to help Ukraine in its crisis. According to the sources and reports, finalizing the sale of the bitcoins could take up to six weeks. Finland had now been consistently offering aid to Ukraine. In February 2022, when the war first broke out between Russia and Ukraine, Finland sent nearly EUR 14 million (USD 14.7 million) additional aid to Ukraine, including humanitarian aid and development cooperation funds.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has demonstrated crypto’s potential in facilitating cross-border payments. Donating cryptocurrency has now evolved to be an efficient way to donate money to help Ukraine’s in its efforts Russia.The Ukrainian Government soon after realising that large transactions using traditional financial systems takes too long, resorted to legalizing Crypto in the country and has since received over $100 million in donations.
When the war first erupted in February, the official Twitter account of the Ukraine government posted a tweet which read: “Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT”. The war-torn country’s Government also recently revealed plans to issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to support its Armed Forces.
