Ukraine Government Cancels Airdrop Ahead of Scheduled Snapshot

The minister of digital transformation announced the cancellation on his Twitter account.

By Sandali Handagama

Mar 3, 2022 at 12:06 p.m. UTC

Updated Mar 3, 2022 at 8:17 p.m. UTC

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Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is a CoinDesk reporter with a focus on crypto regulation and policy. She does not own any crypto.

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The Ukrainian government has canceled a planned crypto airdrop as the Russian invasion continues.

The announcement was made by the country's deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, via his verified Twitter account on Thursday.
"After careful consideration we decided to cancel airdrop. Every day there are more and more people willing to help Ukraine to fight back the aggression," Fedorov tweeted.
Fedorov said the country will announce non-fungible tokens (NFT) to support Ukrainian armed forces, but emphasized there are no plans to issue any fungible tokens. NFTs are digital assets on a blockchain that represent ownership of virtual or physical items.
The airdrop was initially announced on Wednesday on the country's official Twitter account, following which government officials did not release any further information or announcements regarding the event scheduled for Thursday. Government officials also did not respond to CoinDesk's multiple requests for comment since the initial announcement.
Wednesday's announcement indicated the goal of the airdrop was to reward donors who have been sending crypto to support Ukraine as it stands against Russia.
Earlier on Thursday, it appeared as though an airdrop was underway, but it later became apparent that a third party may have been spoofing the much-anticipated event.
According to Fedorov's most recent update on Telegram, the Ukrainian government has raised around $30 million since it began accepting crypto donations last Friday. The government has been raising funds via a range of cryptocurrencies including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and Polkadot's DOT.

UPDATE (Mar. 3, 12:26 UTC): Adds NFT details in third bullet.

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Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is a CoinDesk reporter with a focus on crypto regulation and policy. She does not own any crypto.

Follow @iamsandali on Twitter

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Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is a CoinDesk reporter with a focus on crypto regulation and policy. She does not own any crypto.

Follow @iamsandali on Twitter