Every bitcoin helps: why Ukraine is soliciting for cryptocurrency donations

Crypto's ability to eschew bureaucratic red tape is the best way to provide immediate service to a vulnerable population, experts say

He would bristle at the term but you might describe Dylan Schultz as a crypto bro. He runs Lavender.Five, a crypto validator service that authenticates transactions on the blockchain (imagine a deregulated branch of the Securities and Exchange Commission).

On 25 February, he issued a plea to his 1,700 Twitter followers, We'll match any donation made to a charity in support of Ukraine, up to a total of $1,000." The next day, Schultz posted the fruits of his initiative; 0.028 bitcoin, equaling the total donations of about $1,100, sent to a crypto wallet operated by a Ukrainian military NGO called Come Back Alive. He's one tiny part of a chorus of countless other crypto holders all over the world who have raced to back Ukrainians in the face of an invading force. Reports claim that more than $30m in cryptocurrency has been funneled to the country since the war began. So has charity finally become decentralized?