Key Takeaways
- Gavin Wood, the founder of Polkadot is facing criticism on Twitter for promoting DOT
- The entrepreneur twitted he is read to donate to Ukraine releif fund only if they accept Polkadot
- The crypto community has raised over $20 million so far to help war-torn Ukraine
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – Polkadot founder Gavin Wood has caught the attention of Twitter users, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The computer scientist is facing strong criticism for using the war in Ukraine to promote DOT, the native currency of the Polkadot network. Wood was also instrumental in founding Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
On Saturday, the official Twitter handle of Ukraine appealed to the crypto community for donations. The account informed users that they are accepting contributions in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT). Ukraine is currently embroiled in a war with Russia.
“Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT, ”
the account wrote, posting wallet addresses for the three cryptocurrencies mentioned.
As it turns out, Wood did not like that he had to make donations in other cryptos.
“If you post a DOT address I’ll personally contribute $5m,”
he wrote in reply.
Some users immediately noticed his reply, denouncing him for trying to capitalize on the crisis. They could not understand why Wood would not exchange DOT to one of the accepted cryptos instead.
“breaking news: founder of shitcoin chain, more than capable of converting said shitcoin into usable Bitcoin himself, asks nation under attack to onboard to take time to onboard to his shitchain. any miniscule respect i had for Gavin of Dork is now gone. what a narcissist,”
Twitter user Chelsea Palmer wrote.
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Wood finds a way to donate Polkadot for Ukraine
Some people have also come out to support Wood. While he has not explained his message, users suggested he avoid paying taxes on the conversion. This way, he would use the funds to help Ukraine instead of paying tax.
“dude it‘s not about shilling.. he wants to avoid the taxable event.. so more $$ in the end. why tell someone what to do when he wants to help,”
one user wrote.
However, it seems Wood was serious about donating to Ukraine using Polkadot(DOT). He later shared a Tweet by SubSocial, informing followers that the team had launched a crypto fundraiser. Unlike the one set up by the official page of Ukraine, this fundraiser accepts Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama (KSM).
“The mostly Ukraine-based @Subsocial team have been building donation functionality into their platform for @Polkadot @kusamanetwork tokens,”
he wrote.
The team has set up two separate fundraisers. One fundraiser supports humanitarian efforts, while the second one enriches the Ukrainian Military Fund. At the time of writing, the fundraiser has amassed over $167,000 to booster humanitarian efforts in the war-torn country. In contrast, the Military Fund has received over $1.153 million worth of Polkadot (DOT) in support.
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VeChain goes down the Polkadot route
Unsurprisingly, the Polkadot founder was not the only one who wanted to seize the opportunity. Sunny Lu, the Founder, and CEO of VeChain (VET), had similar intentions.
Lu promised to donate as much as $8 million to Ukraine. However, as a caveat, he asked for a VET wallet address.
“Setup a VET wallet and leave VET address, I’ll donate $8m. Nothing else matters comparing people’s life,”
he wrote.
While the VeChain community also poured their intentions to donate, Lu did not skip criticisms. Like they had done to Wood, users pointed out that he could convert VET into Bitcoin (BTC) and donate instead of expecting a separate address.
According to the data provided by the blockchain analysis firm, Elliptic, the crypto community has made $20 million worth of donations to Ukraine’s war efforts. Moreover, as the crisis rages on, blockchain and cryptocurrencies have stepped up to provide an alternative to the compromised financial system.
