Ukraine began auctioning off its collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT) on Friday (26/3) local time in an expansion of a cryptocurrency fundraising drive that Kyiv says has raised more than US$65 million.
The "Meta History: Museum of War" collection is a series of digital images including silhouettes of fighter planes, screenshots of news reports and cartoon-style explosions, each marking a different day in the conflict.
Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation began soliciting donations in digital tokens such as bitcoin and ethereum three days after Russia launched its invasion, which Moscow described as a "special military operation".
"The new NFT series is intended to spread true information among the digital community of the world and to collect donations for Ukraine's support," according to a message on the collection's website.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a type of crypto asset that exploded in popularity last year. They use the technology behind bitcoin to record who owns digital files from images to videos or text.
Ukraine has so far purchased supplies for its military with crypto donations including bulletproof vests, helmets, lunch and medicine, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Alex Bornyakov, said on Twitter this month.
NFTs are usually purchased with cryptocurrencies such as ether. Ukrainian NFTs will initially cost 0.15 ethereum, or just over 475 US dollars. The funds will go directly to the Kyiv digital crypto wallet, according to the website.
The explosive increase in NFT sales left many observers baffled as to why so much money was being spent on goods that didn't physically exist.
However, they have become a popular fundraising tool in recent months, with groups of people raising their crypto funds to buy NFTs to raise awareness of a particular cause.
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