Ukrainian Government Sells Donated CryptoPunk NFT at 50%+ Loss, Raises $104k

The Ukrainian Government recently sold the CryptoPunk it previously received during its crypto fundraising campaign. It was sold for 90 ETH, worth around $104,000 at current rates. The NFT’s value, when it was first transferred to Ukraine’s Ethereum wallet, was around $233,000. However, it lost more than half of its value during the recent crypto market crash.

Ukraine Raises $100k Selling Donated CryptoPunk NFT at 50%+ Loss

Ukraine has sold CryptoPunk #5364, a highly valued NFT it received as a donation in early March for 90 ETH, raising around $100k, according to Alex Bornyakov, deputy minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. On-chain transactions show that the sale took place two days ago on Sunday. 

However, the NFT has not been sold at its best valuation. That is because early estimates valued Punk at over $200,000. In early March, Tom Robinson of crypto tracing firm Elliptic valued it at around $200,000, while DeepNFTvalue, a blog that uses machine learning to estimate prices for rare NFTs, placed it at $233,000.

The drop in prices can be largely attributed to the recent crypto market crash, which has affected both the price of ETH and the trading volume of NFTs. Ethereum is currently trading around $1,160, down by more than 76% from its all-time high. Likewise, the average price of NFTs has dropped significantly over the past months.

CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 unique digital collectible characters stored on the Ethereum blockchain. Created by Larva Labs, the project is one of the oldest and most valuable NFT collections ever. The project became more valuable after Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), acquired the intellectual property rights to CryptoPunks.

The collection has also been in the spotlight recently amid the news that Noah Davis, the NFT expert for the auction house Christie’s, will join Yuga Labs to lead CryptoPunks.

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Ukraine Raises $135M in Crypto Donations

Ukraine first turned to crypto donations in late February shortly after Russia launched an invasion of the country. Within a couple of days, the Ukrainian government was able to raise millions in crypto. Ever since the country has been doubling down on crypto fundraising attempts.

As per the latest figures, Ukraine has “raised over $135 million in crypto in response to the Russian invasion,” Bornyakov said in a June 11 tweet. However, he noted that “the first wave of crypto donations has subsided,” calling for more help. 

Bornyakov has also praised crypto’s efficiency on several occasions, stating that the real-time blockchain clearing and settlements enabled them to deliver a “very quick” response. On a Twitter Space discussion in March, he said:

“Crypto was one of the ways we fight back, and specifically, why we leverage this is because we understood that our response has to be very quick. With crypto, we can do those transactions in five minutes, in 10 minutes, and you don’t have to get those approval through banks, the bank system.”

The minister also disclosed that the country has used a large portion of crypto donations to purchase military-grade rations, bulletproof vests, and other forms of protection needed for “day-to-day operations.” He had previously said that around 40% of the country’s military suppliers are willing to accept crypto payments

Meanwhile, in comparison, around $580 million has been raised in fiat to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

Do you think NFTs should be used in fundraising? Let us know in the comments below.