Eurovision Winners Kalush Orchestra Raise Nearly $1 Million in Ethereum for Ukraine KingData News: The Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra raised $900,000 by auctioning off the competition's glass microphone trophy, with the money being sent to a foundation that supports Ukraine during its conflict with Russia. The winning bid for the trophy was attributed to cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBit and came in the form of 500 $ETH. In addition to the physical crystal microphone, the winner also gets a NFT featuring the trophy.

NFT Series Avatars for Ukraine to be Auctioned at Meta History on May 19 KingData News: Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, tweeted his support for NFT Avatars for Ukraine. The NFT collection of 70 digital artworks depicting the Ukrainian war will be auctioned at the NFT museum Meta History on May 19, with all proceeds from the sale to fund the Ukrainian war’s defense.

Freedom Squares Ethereum NFTs Turn Zelensky’s Words Into Ukraine Relief KingData News: Freedom Squares is a new Ethereum NFT project focused on generating funds for a pair of notable relief organizations that are working on the ground in and around Ukraine: CORE from actor Sean Penn and co-founder/CEO Ann Lee, and Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen. The project is inspired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comments on March 1 after Kharkiv’s Freedom Square was bombed by Russian forces. “Every square today, no matter what it's called, is going to be called Freedom Square, in every city of our country,” he said. Freedom Squares is a series of NFTs based on mapping data from 1,617 total city squares across all of Ukraine, highlighting parks, memorials, and monuments. Each square is represented in four different styles, resulting in 6,468 base NFTs in the collection, and each will sell for 0.1 ETH (about $295) in auctions starting May 10 (with minting to take place shortly thereafter). Anyone who collects all four versions of a single square by a future, as-yet-unrevealed deadline will be airdropped an exclusive fifth “Guardian” version. Additionally, Freedom Squares will sell 100 animated, special edition NFTs for 1 ETH ($2,950) apiece, as well as hold auctions for a pair of two complete NFT sets based on the original Freedom Square as well as Independence Square in Kyiv.

'Ready, Steady, NFT:' Ukrainian Government Accepts NFT Donations KingData News: Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, tweeted that the Ukrainian government will accept war effort contributions in the form of nonfungible token (NFT) donations and purchases. Via the official "Aid for Ukraine" crypto fund, individuals can donate cryptocurrency, fiat and now NFTs. So far the initiative has raised over $60 million, according to the website. All funds go toward supplying Ukrainians with weapons, medical gear, medical kits and other expenses outlined on the Aid for Ukraine website. Total expenses amounted to $45,103,538 by April 14. The Aid for Ukraine platform is powered by crypto exchanges FTX and Kuna, and by staking provider Everstake. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is the beneficiary organization of several NFT projects including Russia For Sale, which sells Russian lands in the form of NFTs, and Holy Water, which supports local Ukrainian NFT artists, among others. Those who buy an NFT from one of the organizations will contribute directly to Ministry's crypto wallet. At the time of publication, the NFTs donated by "UkrainianCryptoFund" and available to bid on in OpenSea come from collections such as, CryptoPunks, mfers, MoonCats, TIMEPieces by Time Magazine, CREYZIES and Chubbiverse Frens. All of these collections only accept Ether (ETH) for payment.

Finland to Donate Bitcoins Seized in Various Criminal Investigations to Ukraine, May Be Worth More Than €70 Million KingData News: Finland plans to donate Bitcoin seized in various criminal investigations to Ukraine for an undetermined amount, but the potential value could be as much as €73 million ($77 million) at current prices, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported, citing government sources.

Ukraine Raises $600,000 Through Museum NFT Sales to Help Rebuild The Ukrainian NFT War History Museum sold more than $600,000 in 1,282 NFT artworks on its first day of sale, assets that will be used to rebuild museums, theaters and other cultural institutions that have been destroyed since the Russian invasion.