By George Ward
The spread of the FTX collapse on crypto initiatives, companies, and hedge funds will have repercussions for American and international political actors. Many suspicions are circulating on social media concerning FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, the company’s former CEO and founder.
One of them was that Ukraine’s Aid initiative was used to donate money to American politicians. The official statement added that this plot and rumors tarnish the attempts to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Some days after Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022, the Ukraine’s Aid initiative was launched with massive support from blockchain company Everstake and crypto exchanges FTX and Kuna. This non-profit was established to raise money for the entire war. Is a sinister intention being served by the crowdfunding platform?
FTX’s Funds And Ukraine’s Aid
Sergey Vasylchuk, Chief Executive Officer of Everstake and Ukraine’s Aid Co-Founder, clarified the rumors. The executive alleges that social media platforms and traditional media outlets are involved in a “propaganda” campaign.
Reportedly, the CEO of Everstake, Russia, allegedly started this campaign to deter additional contributions to Ukraine by linking the non-profit and the country to a scam. However, Vasylchuk refuted allegations that Ukraine’s Aid wired money to the American Democratic Party.
As the co-founder of Ukraine’s Aid, FTX had little stake in the non-profit organization. Instead, the firm was solely using FTX’s platform to convert crypto to fiat.
The non-profit claims that the government of Ukraine used the funds it had raised to pay for Aid and military supplies. The non-profit has the public backing of both the Digital Transformation Minister and the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Representatives of these organizations corroborated Vasylchuk’s explanation.
Vasylchuk vehemently rejected any link between FTX clients’ money and contributions to Ukraine. He further disputes the initiative’s involvement in shady dealings at the defunct crypto platform.
Vasylchuk continued, “It all exhibits the characteristics of Russian propaganda designed to undermine mutual trust among allies and obstruct Western assistance to Ukraine.” Additionally, the Digital Transformation Ministry and FTX did not work together as closely as some have claimed.
According to Vasylchuk, cryptocurrency projects, regular users, and “big organizations” were the sources of the cryptocurrency contributions to Ukraine that the non-profit organization received. According to reports, Polkadot, Ethereum, Kusama, and others openly gave money through representatives.