Gavin Wood, the founder of the blockchain platform and cryptocurrency Polkadot (DOT), has donated DOT worth approximately $5.8 million to Ukraine.
According to a DOT transaction that the Polkadot founder recently shared, the total donation amounts to 298,367 DOT tokens.
With DOT/USD trading around $19.33 at the time of the transfer, Wood’s contribution is valued at roughly $5.8 million.
Earlier this week, Wood had pledged to donate $5 million to the Ukrainian government if they published a Polkadot address in addition to the Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT) addresses that were opened after last week’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Wood pledged $5 million if Ukraine added a DOT address
On Tuesday, March 1, 2022, Ukraine announced that it would accept cryptocurrency donations in Polkadot.
In a tweet from the official government account, Ukrainian authorities thanked the global community for the donations received so far, published a DOT address, and noted that they would accept other cryptocurrencies as well.
“The people of Ukraine are grateful for the support and donations from the global crypto community while we defend our freedom. We are now accepting Polkadot donations as well: $DOT : 1x8aa2N2Ar9SQweJv9vsuZn3WYDHu7gMQu1RePjZuBe33Hv. More cryptocurrencies will be accepted soon,” read the tweet.
Gavin Wood made his promise in a reply to the Ukrainian government’s earlier plea for more donations. While he could have donated in BTC, ETH, or USDT, Wood’s request for a DOT address appears to have prompted the government to add Polkadot support.
Adding Polkadot as an accepted cryptocurrency could broaden the range of donors and increase fundraising efforts to support Ukraine’s defense and provide humanitarian aid to a growing number of people in need.
At the time of writing, the DOT address holds just over $6 million, but that amount could rise rapidly, as was seen with BTC and ETH donations over the past week.