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Former CEO of Gulf Oil Joe Petrovsky estimates the prices of raw materials, which are rising with the growing crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

Car factories were idle, beer stopped flowing, furniture and fashion orders stopped, and energy companies fled oil and gas projects.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown business plans into disarray and forced a growing number of the world’s most famous brands – from Apple to Mercedes-Benz and BP – to withdraw from a country in global exile as companies seek to maintain their reputation and meet the standards of corporate responsibility.

A truck passes by beer crates at the Budeovicky Budvar brewery in České Budějovice, Czech Republic (AP Photo / Petr David Josek, File / AP Newsroom)

Investors were drawn to Russia in search of lucrative profits that they thought were worth the geopolitical risks. That calculation changed after Russia’s war sparked a wave of global sanctions and export restrictions that shook its economy and disrupted the operations of multinational corporations there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets with Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden in Moscow, Russia, June 21, 2017 (Sergei Karpukhin / Pool Photo via AP, File / AP Newsroom)

“In principle, Russia is becoming a trading pariah,” said economist Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “Almost no company, no multinational company, wants to be caught on the wrong side of US and Western sanctions.

They are also concerned about the plight of Ukrainians, showing how they want to be seen to get on the right side of history.

Complicating companies’ pressure to flee is an order from Moscow that temporarily restricts foreign investors from selling Russian assets. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Tuesday that it would help investors make an “informed decision” instead of succumbing to political pressure from sanctions. It is unclear how this could affect corporate efforts to leave Russia.

Oil and gas companies, which are already feeling the heat of climate activists investing in renewable energy, were among the companies to announce the fastest and most dramatic departures.

Energy company BP said on Sunday it would drop its $ 14 billion stake in Russia’s state oil and gas company Rosneft. The next day, Shell said it was leaving its joint venture with state-owned Gazprom and its involvement in the discontinued Nord Stream 2 pipeline, built to transport natural gas to Western Europe.

ExxonMobil has said it will withdraw from a key oil and gas project and halt any new investment in Russia. All of their chief executives said they were shocked and saddened by the escalating conflict. Smaller energy companies followed suit.

Companies in other industries, including carmakers, have signaled they remain outside the Russian market either out of concern for Ukraine or to comply with Western sanctions.

Toyota has halted production at its St. Petersburg plant, which produces RAV4 and Camry models, starting on Friday due to supply chain disruptions, saying it was watching the events “with great concern for the safety of the people of Ukraine”.

Mercedes-Benz has stopped car exports to Russia and production there. The Volkswagen Group, which also owns Porsche and Audi, did the same, saying it believed “a lasting solution to the conflict can only be found on the basis of international law”.

Volvo Cars said it was suspending supplies due to “potential risks associated with trade in materials with Russia”, citing Western sanctions. Ford has ceased operations.

Volvo XC 90 is shown in the Volvo Cars showroom in Stockholm (Jonas Ekstromer / TT via AP, file / AP Newsroom)

Harley-Davidson has stopped delivering motorcycles to Russia, saying “thoughts continue for the safety of the people of Ukraine.” Putin is known for his three-wheeled Harley visiting Ukraine in 2010.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a Harley-Davidson Lehman Trike in the foreground as he arrives for a meeting with Russian and Ukrainian motorcyclists. (Sergey Karpukhin / Photo of the pool via AP, file / AP Newsroom)

Others who have more stakes in Russia may find it more difficult to navigate the crisis.

French carmaker Renault, whose second-largest market is Russia, said only that it was temporarily suspending production at its plant in Moscow until Saturday “due to some logistical problems”, without being specific.

The Danish brewing group Carlsberg has stopped production at its three breweries in Ukraine, but said operations in Russia, where it owns the St. Petersburg-based Baltika Breweries and employs 8,400 people, will continue.

MANCHIN BLASTS AGAIN FOR ANTI-FOSSIL FUELS OF RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: Beyond Pale

“Millions of lives have been affected and we strongly condemn the acts of violence and aggression we are witnessing,” said Christian Wolfe Sondergaard, vice president of corporate affairs. Carlsberg has a duty to “protect the livelihoods of all our employees” in Russia as the economy is increasingly pressured by sanctions, he said.

The Czech brewery Budvar, which considers Russia one of its five main markets, has suspended beer supplies to the country, saying business is not a top priority and is looking for ways to help, including finding accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

“It’s really difficult to do business in Russia under the best conditions. Now it’s just crazy. So going out is a smart business proposition, “said James O’Rourke, a professor at Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in reputation management.

Companies will have to account for all losses as costs of doing business.

“It’s like getting into business with the Manson family,” O’Rourke said, referring to followers of cult leader Charles Manson. “Honestly, you don’t want your name to be associated with these people, and it probably won’t cost you that much to invest.”

Ikea stopped operations in its 17 Russian stores and stopped exports and imports. The Swedish furniture giant said: “The war had a huge human impact” and led to “serious disruptions in the supply chain and trade conditions.”

The fast-paced fashion brand H&M has stopped sales in Russian stores, expressing concern about the “tragic development”. Nike said on its Russian website that it could not guarantee deliveries.

Aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus have stopped supplying parts and service support to Russian carriers.

Even Hollywood studios are postponing the release of new films in Russia, which is not a leading film market, but usually ranks in the top ten countries in terms of box office revenue. Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co. and Sony Pictures cite the “humanitarian crisis”.

The Walt Disney Co. logo appears on screen above the New York Stock Exchange (AP Photo / Richard Drew, File / AP Newsroom)

Netflix pauses all future projects and acquisitions from Russia. It is reported that the streaming service has four Russian projects in preparation.

Technology companies are also heading for the door.

The Apple logo is illuminated in a store in the city center of Munich, Germany. (AP Photo / Matthias Schrader, file / AP Newsroom)

Apple stopped selling iPhones and other devices in Russia, while computer maker Dell Technologies stopped selling in Ukraine and Russia.

Google and TikTok have blocked Russian state media channels from their platforms at the request of the European Union. Apple has blocked downloads of RT News and Sputnik News from its App Store outside of Russia.

US EXPANDS LIST OF RUSSIAN OLIGARS WHO WILL IMPOSE SANCTIONS

Companies need to respond not only to sanctions, but also to public sentiment as the human cost of war increases.

The company’s commitment to environmental, social and corporate governance, known as ESG, is being tested. ESG has become a lively acronym that is increasingly seen as an important way for corporations to promote responsible business credentials.

The exterior of the new Warner Bros. building. Hollywood Studio Tour (AP Photo / Chris Pizzello, File / AP Newsroom)

“But there may be an element of greenwashing when companies say things that make them appear to have certain values ​​or are on the right side of ESG issues, while their practices and behaviors suggest otherwise,” said Columbia Business School’s associate professor. Vanessa Burbano.

“Stakeholders as employees and consumers will want to see if the actions and behavior of companies are in line with the communicated support that companies are expressing for Ukrainians,” she said.

Some companies go beyond stopping deliveries or operations.

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Lego, Ford and the Volkswagen Group have said they will make millions of dollars in charitable donations in support of Ukrainian refugees.

Pete Davidson performs on the Colossal Stage during the Colossal Clusterfest.Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic

• The New York Post reported that comedian Pete Davidson is going into space with Jeff Bezos.

• The Post said sources expect the trip to take place later this year.

• The SNL star contacted Bezos when she met him in January while with his girlfriend Kim Kardashian.

Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson is reportedly going to new heights – in space, with billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The New York Post reported on Thursday that the comedian is close to signing a deal to join Bezos in a Blue Origin space flight probably later this year.

“Pete is excited,” an unnamed source told the Post’s Six page. “They have not yet signed a contract, but it looks like it will happen. Details are being clarified.”

Davidson was seen at the hands of a newly unmarried friend, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, at a dinner at Bezos’ home in January, according to People.

“He got along very well with Jeff when they met,” the source told Page Six. They added that the flight will probably take place later this year.

Davidson joined the SNL cast in 2014 when he was just 20 years old. Bezos launched his aerospace company Blue Origin in 2000 and first went into space in July 2021.

Former Star Trek actor William Shatner embarked on a Blue Origin trip last October.

Representatives of Blue Origin and Davidson could not be found immediately for comment.

Read the original article in Business Insider

Verizon Communications CEO Hans Westberg painted an optimistic picture of the future on Thursday, telling CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the telecoms giant has “more growth opportunities than we’ve ever had before.”

Vestberg’s comments in an interview with “Mad Money” came after Verizon held an investor day earlier on Thursday, during which it outlined its strategy for the years ahead. It is aimed at growth of at least 4% for services and other revenues in 2024.

“We’ve done a lot in the last few years and we’re here right now with more growth opportunities than we’ve ever had,” Westberg said. He cited his recent acquisition of the valuable TracFone wireless brand and the major acquisition of the C-Band spectrum in early 2021, a move to support the construction of 5G in the United States. He also mentioned the sale of Verizon Media last year.

“We built a network for many, many different things, a multifunctional network,” Westberg said.

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Verizon also announced on Thursday that it has entered into a strategic partnership with the mother of Facebook Meta. It focuses on how Verizon’s 5G network and computing power can help build the so-called metauniverse, a new and top priority for social media-led social media company Mark Zuckerberg.

Westberg stressed that there are still early innings for the development of these immersive digital worlds known as the metauniverse. The concept was not even on his radar when he joined Verizon in 2017, initially as chief technology officer and president of Global Networks, he said. He became CEO in 2018.

“We’re just starting in this area … and it’s not even in my numbers for the future because it’s so early,” Westberg said. “But it’s clear that we’ve built a network that’s so different from everyone else in the market. That’s why we talked to Meta, and that’s why they chose to work with us.”

Dividend perspective

Shares of Verizon rose nearly 1 percent on Thursday, closing at $ 54.66 to bring their year-over-year earnings to 5.2 percent. The S&P 500 fell 8.5% over the same period.

Investors are not looking for telecommunications companies like Verizon for impressive revenue growth. Shares tend to be seen as a relatively defensive game, with dividends being a key reason some income-seeking investors want to own. Verizon boasts a dividend yield of 4.7% based on Thursday’s close.

Kramer asked Westberg if the company’s focus on growth initiatives would prevent Verizon from further increasing dividend payments.

The CEO said Verizon has a clear strategy for allocating capital, with the main priority being to reduce capital intensity to below 12% in 2024. The second priority is to continue to grow the dividend, Westberg said.

“Then we pay off our debt and then we come to the repurchase of shares, and today we also talked about the fact that we will now start considering the repurchase earlier than we said before,” he said.

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Stock futures opened higher on Thursday as investors awaited a key update on the recovery of the labor market and continued to monitor the global economic consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Contracts for the S&P 500 have risen. The index fell 0.5% during the regular trading day as technology and growth stocks came under new pressure and the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 1.6%. Government bond yields stabilized after falling earlier this week, with a 10-year reference yield of more than 1.8%.

A new set of economic data, due to be released on Friday morning, is expected to confirm to investors that the US economy has recovered enough to allow monetary policy makers to ease their support from the crisis. The February report on the Ministry of Labor’s jobs is expected to show a fourteenth consecutive month of wage increases, with jobs rising by more than 400,000 and the unemployment rate falling to 3.9% – or the lowest since February 2020. years before the pandemic. Such a result would reflect much better-than-expected data on private wages received from ADP earlier this week.

And now Fed employees have declared victory in fulfilling their mandate for employment in the economy. In a statement to Congress this week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said most members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) would agree that the U.S. labor market is now at a level consistent with maximum employment.

And even ahead of the February job report, Powell said he would support raising the interest rate by 25 basis points at a Fed meeting in March, ending speculation that the central bank could continue with a more aggressive increase of 50 basis points. points to jump … start your efforts to reduce inflation. But steady price hikes have left open the question of how aggressively the Fed will need to tighten monetary policy for the rest of the year.

Inflation fears have only deepened as crude oil prices have jumped to multi-year highs, with crude oil prices in West Texas rising more than 40 percent year-on-year to just over $ 100 a barrel. But for monetary policymakers, these concerns had to be weighed against the uncertainty now posed by the crisis in Ukraine.

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“Recent actions over the past week, given the combination of the Russia-Ukraine situation and the continuing footprints of inflation, have lowered market expectations to closer to five increases, perhaps even lower,” said Matt Kishlanski. GenTrust Wealth Management Director, told Yahoo Finance Live. “So I think the Fed needs to give a signal in that sense that they think they’re really going to be there.”

–

18:13 ET Thursday: Futures on stocks are rising

Here are the main market movements on Thursday night:

• S&P 500 futures (ES = F): +6.5 points (+ 0.15%), to 4365.75

• Dow futures (YM = F): +54 points (+ 0.16%), up to 33,792.00

• Nasdaq futures (NQ = F): +31.25 points (+ 0.22%) to 14,061.75

A trader traded on the New York Stock Exchange in New York, United States, February 28, 2022. U.S. stocks closed mixed on Monday as investors watched updates on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 166.15 points, or 0.49 percent, to 33,892.60. The S&P 500 fell 10.71 points, or 0.24 percent, to 4,373.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 56.78 points, or 0.41 percent, to 13,751.40. (Allie Joseph / NYSE / Xinhua Distribution)

–

Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter

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Technicians at The New York Times on Thursday voted in favor of certifying their union in the National Labor Council election, making it one of the largest technical unions in America.

Workers voted in favor, 404 to 88, easily reaching the required majority of ballots. Victory means the union, the Times Tech Guild, can begin negotiating a contract with management.

“We’re just excited and really absorbed in what this means, not only for us as technical workers at The Times and The New York Times, but for the technology industry as a whole,” said Nozli Samadzadeh, senior software engineer. “I think this will be the beginning of a wave of organization in the technology industry.”

Ms Samadzadeh said the union wanted to conclude an agreement on issues “similar to what the newsroom is fighting for – issues of pay, diversity and fairness, a strong agreement to make our workplace fairer”.

A spokesman for the Times, Daniel Rhodes Ha, said The Times was looking forward to working with the union to sign a contract.

“We continue to believe that this election process was critical so that our colleagues could learn more about the union, hear both sides of the dispute and ultimately make an informed decision,” she said.

The Times Technical Guild, which represents about 600 software engineers, product managers, designers, data analysts and other workers, asked The Times for voluntary recognition in April. The Times refused, so the issue went to official elections through the Labor Board.

The Labor Board said in a complaint in January that The Times had violated federal workplace law by preventing some employees from showing support for the union. A Times spokesman said at the time that the company did not agree with the allegations.

The Times Tech Guild is represented by NewsGuild of New York, which also represents the editorial staff of The New York Times and Wirecutter, the company’s product review website. In 2019, The Times voluntarily recognized the Wirecutter union.

May Hitty Getty Images News Getty Images

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has challenged United Auto Workers to try to organize employees at his company’s plant in Fremont, California, and has stepped up his attacks on Biden administration policies.

In a series of tweets this week, Musk followed the union, a topic he has been talking about since President Joe Biden, a supporter of organized labor, took office.

“Our real challenge is that Bay Area has negative unemployment, so if we don’t treat and compensate our (great) people well, they have a lot of other offers and will just leave!” Musk tweeted late Wednesday. “I would now like to invite the UAW to hold a union vote when it is convenient for them. Tesla will do nothing to stop them.

According to the website of the California Department of Employment Development, Fremont had an unemployment rate of 3.1% in December 2021, the latest available data.

Musk’s union criticism is nothing new. In 2018, he made comments that were found to have violated federal labor laws after Tesla fired a union activist.

The National Labor Council has ordered Tesla to hire the employee again and have Musk delete the tweet. But Tesla appealed the decision to the administrative court.

Musk’s latest tweets continued on Tuesday night, when Biden presented his address on the state of the Union. In a speech, Biden praised General Motors and Ford for their plans to invest in more electric vehicle production in the United States.

Musk responded by telling his more than 76 million followers that “Tesla has created more than 50,000 jobs in the United States in the electric vehicle industry and is investing more than double GM + Ford combined.”

GM said it expects annual capital expenditures of between $ 9 billion and $ 10 billion, largely in support of the transition to electric vehicles, while Ford plans to spend $ 5 billion on its electric vehicle efforts this year. Tesla said it plans to spend $ 5-7 billion this year to support its projects worldwide.

Musk has been particularly worried about Biden lately. He is attacking the administration’s Build Back Better proposal, which includes incentives for US consumers to buy electric vehicles, with bigger ones if they buy electric cars made by unions. And he caught Biden for his general reluctance to mention Tesla by name along with other American carmakers, even though he did so last month.

President Joe Biden addressed the state of the Union ahead of a joint session of Congress on March 1, 2022 in Washington.

Swimming pool Getty Images News Getty Images

One of Musk’s tweets this week included a video on YouTube that he said “helps explain why former UAW members who work at Tesla are not big UAW fans.” The video was published in 2010 by the World Socialist Web Site on YouTube.

The video shows workers at the NUMMI plant, which would later become Tesla’s first electric vehicle factory, complaining that a union member was prevented from recording a UAW meeting at the local union hall.

Musk is not the only critic of the UAW. The Detroit-based union is under federal supervision through a court-approved monitor as part of an agreement between the UAW and the government following a long-running corruption investigation that sent 15 people to prison, including two recent UAW presidents and three Fiat Chrysler executives.

The investigation revealed years of bribes and concession schemes involving several senior union leaders.

Brian Rothenberg, a spokesman for the UAW, declined to comment on Musk’s tweets, but noted that Tesla had appealed the NLRB’s decision, asking the company to “respect fundamental organizational rights.”

UAW operates an organizational office near the Fremont plant with few people.

Rothenberg will not discuss any union efforts at Tesla or other electric car companies, citing the union’s policy of not commenting on activities until petitions are filed.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

The evolving EV market is a challenge for the UAW, which found in a 2018 study that Detroit’s automakers switching to electricity could cost the union tens of thousands of jobs. Rechargeable electric vehicles require far fewer parts than those manufactured with internal combustion engines, and many parts are manufactured outside the United States

Although unions are struggling to retain members, President Biden is urging Congress to pass legislation to protect workers’ rights. He proposed a Pro Act calling for the punishment of employers involved in illegal trade union opposition, wage theft and misclassification of workers.

“When the majority of workers want to form a union, they must not be stopped,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk warned on Thursday that Starlink’s satellite broadband service could be targeted in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

Important note: Starlink is the only non-Russian communication system still operating in some parts of Ukraine, so [the] the probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution, “Musk wrote on Twitter.

Musk advised users to turn on Starlink only when necessary and to place the antenna as far away from other people as possible. He also suggested putting light camouflage on the antenna to “avoid visual detection”.

RUSSIA INVASES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES

On Saturday, Musk said Starlink was active in Ukraine to alleviate the connectivity challenges facing the country and that there were more terminals.

Musk said Starlink is active in Ukraine to alleviate the connectivity challenges facing the country. (Reuters / Michelle Tantusi / Photo / Reuters photos)

He made the announcement on Twitter in response to an appeal by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Fedorov, who asked Musk to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations.

Starlink is a network of about 2,000 satellites in low Earth orbit that provide high-speed broadband by connecting to consumer terminals on Earth. Ukraine had periodic Internet outages last week when Russian forces invaded from the north, south and east, according to the Internet monitor NetBlocks.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 49 Starlink Internet satellites, launches from 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida – 02/22/2022 (Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Russian hackers have also carried out cyber attacks on the Ukrainian government and critical infrastructure. Starlink does not rely on traditional terrestrial Internet infrastructure, which could potentially make it an ideal service in war zones.

UKRAINE RECEIVES SHIPMENT AT STARLINK TERMINALS LESS THAN 48 HOURS AFTER ILON MUSK PROMISES THEM

On Monday, Ukraine said it had received a shipment of donated Starlink satellite Internet terminals. Fedorov tweeted a photo of a truck at the terminals around 22:00 in Ukraine, confirming that they had arrived.

However, an Internet security researcher warned that they could become “beacons” for Russians.

ILON MUSK SAYS STARLINK IS ACTIVE IN UKRAINE AMONG THE INTERNET

“If #Putin controls the air over #Ukraine, consumer broadcasts become beacons … of air strikes,” tweeted John Scott-Reylton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab project.

“#Russia has decades of experience in hitting people by targeting their satellite communications,” added Scott-Reilton in a series of additional tweets discussing the risks.

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Also Thursday SpaceX started successfully 47 Starlink satellites will be added to the space broadband internet service.

A two-stage Falcon 9 satellite-carrying rocket was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:35 a.m. EST.

Paul Best of Fox Business contributed to this report

“Obviously we can’t buy nuclear bombs or missiles,” said Kuna.io CEO Michael Chobanyan. But “most non-lethal things you can buy with cryptocurrency.”

Cryptocurrency was expected to be a key variable in the war, both as a potential means of evading Russian sanctions and as a tool for supporters to finance Ukrainians. But in the days since Russia invaded, the Ukrainian government’s embrace of crypto has become more outspoken, attracting Western crypto evangelicals who see a chance to test their claims that blockchain technology can promote open societies.

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The cryptocurrency’s donations are much smaller than President Biden’s permission last week for $ 350 million in additional military aid to Ukraine and the US Agency for International Development’s promise of $ 54 million in humanitarian aid. Biden also asked Congress to allow an additional $ 10 billion.

Cryptocurrency is the best way to donate to Ukrainians since the government imposed martial law on February 24, limiting their ability to send or receive funds, said Sergei Vasilchuk, chief executive of Kyiv-based crypto company Everstake.

Supporters argue that the cryptocurrency has allowed Ukraine to raise money without restrictions imposed by government bureaucracy or centralized technology platforms in Silicon Valley, and that the public digital register of blockchain transactions offers greater transparency for donors on how money is spent. For example, GoFundMe and Patreon, which allow fans to pay creators, prohibit fundraising for military purposes.

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Tomika Tilleman, a Biden clerk in the Senate who now works as a chief politician for a new crypto venture capital firm founded by former federal prosecutor Katie Hawn, called the aid spill for Ukraine a “vivid illustration” of the technology’s potential to “help strengthening open societies and protecting democratic values. “

Tilleman said politicians who specialize in security would prefer to have more financial activity on cryptocurrency because it is easier to track. “This is actually a huge step compared to pallets full of money that have previously been sent to conflict zones,” he said.

The crowdfunding war is nothing new for Ukraine, which has used private donors to pay for military equipment since Russia took over Crimea in 2014. But skeptics wonder if the focus on cryptocurrency could lead to more illegal activity – saying the promise of transparency ends when it is converted into other currencies to buy goods – or inspire authoritarian governments to try a similar approach.

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Lee Rainers, a former senior fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was skeptical of the argument that cryptocurrency was needed for donations. “Ukrainians are not those who are cut off from the global financial system, so nothing prevents them from receiving donations through GoFundMe, the Red Cross or any other platform, and [nongovernmental organization]”Rainers wrote in an email. The need to convert donations into traditional currency also undermines the idea that cryptocurrency is somehow more decentralized, he said. “The last time I checked, you can’t buy Javelins [missiles] with bitcoin. “

The call for crypto support came from 31-year-old Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov, who acted as the country’s main digital agitator, urging Silicon Valley titans to ban Russia from its platforms and services. Fedorov first published a request for crypto donations in bitcoin, ether or theater in the Telegram messaging application. Half an hour later, Fedorov published the same on his own Twitter account. A few hours later he was in Ukraine official Twitter account.

Even Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, wasn’t sure if the request was genuine, advising his 3 million Twitter followers to beware of fraud. Buterin deleted his warning after confirming that the request was legitimate. “But keep vigilant and always be slow and careful when sending irreversible crypto transactions,” he tweeted.

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Donations quickly spilled over from more than 46,000 people, most of whom donated just under $ 100 – all recorded in public books that characterize the cryptocurrency, according to a Washington Post analysis of public data on Ethereum’s blockchain. But several have donated more than $ 250,000 to Ethereum, including two prominent executives in the cryptocurrency business. Deepak Taplial, who made headlines last month after spending $ 23 million on NFT’s Crypto Punk Alien digital collector’s value, donated about $ 290,000, and Sam Bankman-Fried, chief executive of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, donated large amount.

“I am pleased that Ukraine is using the tools available to accept crypto donations, as it shows how much it supports the community and how quickly we can help them in times of need,” Taplial told The Post in a statement. Bankman-Fried did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

All that is known about the third leading donor, who gave about $ 280,000, is that their portfolio (similar to a public bank account number) has earned nearly $ 3 million in 17 minutes since the failed launch of the cryptocurrency in November 2021, inciting accusations that he was a beneficiary of carpet-pulling fraud. Neither the identity of the person who controls the address, nor its location, nor anything else about them is recorded in the blockchain. Who controls the address did not respond to a request for comment from The Post via a blockchain chat service.

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Ukraine, which did not request NFT, received a map of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, parts of which are controlled by Russian-backed separatists, in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, plus photos of blue-and-yellow peace signs and an animated “fire dragon.” NFT’s donations also include images from the Shibelon collection, which is “based on a mythology in which Elon Musk received ingenious powers from an alien who also created bitcoin,” the journalist wrote. Jacob Silvermanwho is working on a crypto book.

Chobanyan, chief executive of Kuna.io, said Ukraine did not need to sell NFT as foreign currency donations continued to invade, but that the government would sell them if necessary. “It doesn’t matter, we can sell everything now,” he said.

Someone donated this Shibelon NFT to the Ukrainian government. The NFT collection is based on a mythology in which Elon Musk is given ingenious powers by an alien who also created bitcoin. Supported by Soulja Boy, The Game and other celebrities.https: //t.co/0VQXhR7c9Z pic.twitter.com/M04KrK9IJc

– Jacob Silverman (@SilvermanJacob) February 27, 2022

In addition to established cryptocurrencies, Ukraine has received donations denominated in almost 100 obscure digital currencies, according to an analysis by Post data from Etherscan. These include a new one called Save Ukraine, another with a racist abusive name and several post-crypto themed communities in dog-focused jokes, and Musk, Tesla’s chief executive.

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The government’s strategy is first to convert less popular cryptocurrencies into traditional money and keep bitcoin and ether in reserves because they are more stable and liquid, Chobanyan said.

Donations are still arriving as new efforts are emerging to raise cryptocurrency for the Ukrainian government. Early Tuesday morning Ukrainian time, Fedorov announcements AidForUkraine, a joint effort of its digital ministry, developers behind the blockchain Solana and Everstake. So far, AidForUkraine has raised $ 1.4 million, according to its website.

The speed with which AidForUkraine’s fundraising efforts came together was “magic,” said Vasilchuk of Everstake, who fled Kyiv days before the invasion thanks to his pilot’s license and is in a temporary residence in Florida. In a group chat on Signal, the encrypted messaging app, he and Anatoliy Yakovenko, Ukraine’s US co-founder of Solana, spoke with members of Ukraine’s central bank, the Ministry of Digital Technology, FTX and others, Vasilchuk said.

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But in perhaps the strangest turn so far, Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian government tweets confirmation that there will be an “air shipment” for donors on Thursday, but does not provide details on what will lead to this. Airdrops, which promises to put a token in a crypto wallet for participating users, is a popular way for crypto projects to entice new users with the promise of free NFT, which can be used as a ticket to future collector’s events. of time, or a governing sign that gives the right to vote for collective decisions.

“It wasn’t long ago when you said you were going to do an air launch, you know, like a war-torn country. [it] meant that food and medicine would be literally dropped from the air of your people “, Cass Piansi, co-host of the Crypto Critic podcast, posted on Twitter. “Now this means that the war-torn country will create a token and hand it out.

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Eric Wall, Chief Information Officer of Arcane Assets, based in a Scandinavian cryptocurrency investment company, tweets that Ukraine’s move is a “gamification of karma.”

Less than two days later, Fedorov announced that the airdrop had been canceled. Instead, he tweeted, the government will launch a new NFT project in support of the Ukrainian military. He stressed that Ukraine has no plans to issue its own interchangeable token, such as bitcoin, perhaps in connection with speculation about such an idea.

To the extent that air drops can encourage viewers to donate, they can also inspire ‘air drop building’, in which cryptocurrency holders hoping to grab the prize do the least to participate. About 8,300 people donated less than $ 10 after the initial announcement.

In addition to official government efforts, Come Back Alive, a non-governmental organization in favor of the Ukrainian army, has also received millions in cryptocurrency donations – and received millions more from UkraineDAO, a blockchain group that held a fundraising auction, according to blockchain data.

The organizers of the NGO turned to crypto after their campaign was stopped by Patreon. But UkraineDAO is limiting spending to help war victims, the New York Times reports. Patreon spokeswoman Ellen Sutrewith said that “it would be absolutely acceptable according to our guidelines”.

Ukraine does not rule out the use of donations to buy deadly weapons, Chobanyan said, but was unsure if that was feasible. “Another day like this and we will buy deadly weapons,” he told Ukraine’s Telegram early Tuesday.