Today in FinTech Ukraine: Ukraine Receives Almost $100M in Crypto Donations; Payment Platform Hedgewiz to Aid Ukrainian Workers; Airbnb.org Helps Refugees

As Ukrainians flee heavy fighting from Russian forces, the Eastern European nation has received nearly $100 million in cryptocurrency donations, according to Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s spokesperson, CoinDesk.com reported Wednesday (March 9).

In an emergency briefing online, Bornyakov, deputy minister of digital transformation, said more than $60 million was received in the main fund operated by Kuna, the Ukrainian crypto exchange. The rest was sent to several other smaller funds. He told the news organization that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shares the vision that the use of crypto could be a breakthrough from an economic standpoint.

Airbnb.org announced it will work with nonprofits in Germany that are booking housing stays for refugees of any country, the home sharing platform announced. Donors who wish to accommodate refugees can register at unterkunft-ukraine.de or airbnb.org/help-ukraine.

Airbnb has pledged free, temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. Since then, more than 11,100 people across Europe, including nearly 1,800 in Germany, have registered to offer their homes to refugees for free or at a discount.

Additionally, London cross-border B2B payment platform Hedgewiz is aiding Ukrainian workers who have been cut off from their banking systems, JPost.com reported Thursday (March 10).

The firm said it has found two new investors in Eyal Waldman, former CEO of Mellanox, and Stella Handler, former CEO of Bezeq, to join others who have invested $5 million to create a fast and cheap platform for international money transfer.

“We have a solution for the case as is happening now in Ukraine,” Hedgewiz CEO Pavel Soifer told the news outlet. “The employee and the employer open an account on the platform so that the Ukrainians can have access to the money even if the Russians close the local banking system to them.”