- FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said the platform had given all Ukrainian users $25 each.
- "Do what you gotta do," he tweeted on Thursday as he announced the donations.
- Since Russia invaded, Ukraine has limited access to currencies and cash withdrawals, making crypto more attractive.
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has given $25 to every Ukrainian user on its platform, according to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
In a tweet Thursday announcing the FTX donations, the 29-year-old billionaire wrote "do what you gotta do."
—SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 24, 2022
Bankman-Fried's move joins humanitarian organizations in ramping up efforts to help those in Ukraine with funding and essential supplies. Cryptocurrencies have played a key role.
Volunteer groups and NGOs have together raised over $1 million in cryptocurrency amid Russia's invasion, according to data from Elliptic.
After Russian forces invaded and Ukraine declared martial law, citizens were left with limited access to foreign currencies and cash withdrawals, making decentralized and unregulated crypto transactions potentially more attractive.
On Thursday, trading volumes in Ukraine's currency for the dollar-pegged stablecoin tether surged to the equivalent about $290,000, the highest since October, according to cryptocurrency data provider Kaiko.