This Week in FinTech Ukraine: Revolut Raises $10.9M for War Victims; Uber to Launch In-App Donation Button

Revolut, the global financial super app, has raised more than 10 million euros ($10.9 million) to support victims of the war in Ukraine through donations to the Red Cross Ukraine appeal, the Stockholm-based company announced.

The money includes donations from customers together with contributions from Revolut. The campaign to allow millions of customers worldwide to instantly donate to the Red Cross Ukraine appeal began Feb. 25 and raised more than 1 million euros ($1.09 million) in the first 24 hours. Since then, users in more than 50 countries have participated in the appeal.

Uber plans to launch an in-app donation button to allow U.S. customers to make donations to the International Rescue Committee to assist Ukraine. Plans are in the works to make in-app donation features available to Uber users in more countries in the coming days, the ride-sharing company announced.

Uber said it will match donations made through this feature up to $1 million. The company said it will also make an additional $500,000 donation to the International Federation of Red Cross and World Food Program USA, in support of the U.N. World Food Program’s humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and nearby countries.

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.

The Utah Jazz Foundation is partnering with Airbnb.org, a nonprofit that provides temporary stays for people in crisis, to provide housing to refugees fleeing Ukraine, Airbnb announced.

The commitment will support Airbnb’s initiative to offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing from Ukraine into Poland, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and other surrounding countries. Utah Jazz’s donation is expected to fund more than 32,200 nights of housing for Ukrainian refugees.