Ukraine has raised over $600,000 through non-fungible tokens (NFTs) which will be used as war bonds to help finance the country’s war efforts, including the rebuilding of museums, theatres and other cultural institutions.
The NFT museum, known formally as the Metahistory Museum of War, features official collections related to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. It is designed to preserve the chronology of the conflict.
It sold 1,282 artworks on its first day of sales, raising 190 ETH for the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the museum has said in an email. The NFTs are meant to depict the wreckage of war through artwork that displays rubble and destruction, fallen soldiers and burning flags.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Oleksandr Boryakov has stated:
“Blockchain seems to be a powerful tool to keep the memory going of the heroism of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the resistance of the Ukrainian people and the whole Putin Blitzfail”.
The museum also revealed plans to auction four artworks in the future that will be exclusively open to purchase for those who bought these specific war-related NFTs.
Nearly twenty specialists from major Ukrainian groups and art projects, including CryptoArt Ukraine, Prjctr.com and AVANTGARDEN have been participating in the development of this NFT project, while tech brands FAIR.XYZ and Hacken are involved in the audit of the smart contracts.
Unlike traditional museums, the Ukrainian war museum is in digital form and comprises solely of NFTs.
In addition, the Metahistory Museum is engaged in initiatives to collect donations for Ukrainian military officials and citizens. All proceeds from the NFT auction will be transferred directly to crypto wallets belonging to the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Since the invasion began in February 2022, the Ukrainian government has raised over $60 million in cryptocurrency donations.
Last month, CryptoPunk #5364 was donated to Ukraine’s Ethereum wallet, which was worth around $200,000 at the time.
Yuga Labs, by and through Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), also donated $1 million to Ukraine.
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has noted that the bulk of all donations has been done via Ethereum (ETH).