Ukraine cancels ‘crypto airdrop’ and will sell NFTs to support armed forces instead

(AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine has cancelled a “crypto airdrop” and will sell NFTs to support its armed forces instead, a member of its government has announced.

The “airdrop” had prompted intrigue and confusion when it was announced by Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s vice prime minister.

He has since announced that it would cancel the airdrop but continue to look at ways for people to raise money for Ukraine through the blockchain.

“After careful consideration we decided to cancel airdrop,” Mr Fedorov tweeted. “Every day there are more and more people willing to help Ukraine to fight back the agression.

“Instead, we will announce NFTs to support Ukrainian Armed Forces soon. We DO NOT HAVE any plans to issue any fungible tokens.”

Previously, Ukraine’s official Twitter account had posted “airdrop confirmed”. The “snapshot” was due to take place on Thursday afternoon and a “reward” would follow, the account said.

Crypto airdrops see users given free tokens of a digital currency in an effort to encourage adoption. But it was not clear what cryptocurrency Ukraine was intended to give out or how it would do so.

Likewise, Mr Fedorov gave no information about what form the “NFTs to support Ukrainian Armed Forces” might take.

It was just one of a range of ways that Ukraine has looked to use the blockchain and other new technologies to support its fight against Russia. Many of those efforts have been led by Mr Mykhailo, who has been part of an effort to raise tens of millions of dollars for Ukraine through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

“Crypto community continue to support Ukraine,” he wrote in a series of tweets, in which he highlighted the work of a range of companies and people in the cryptocurrency community to enable donations to the country.