• The Finnish government has pledged to donate a significant portion of Bitcoin seized from a criminal investigation relating to doping and drug trafficking to Ukraine.

• According to a report, the Finland government is weighing how to ensure criminals do not hijack the transaction.

Ukraine has in the past couple of months received donations from individuals, organizations, and countries in their defense against Russia. According to a recent report, the Finnish government has pledged to donate a significant portion of Bitcoin seized from criminal investigations relating to doping and drug trafficking to the country. 

The Finland customs authorities have confiscated 1981 Bitcoins and have been ordered by the court to be handed over to the state. Though the country is yet to decide on the amount to be donated to the Ukraine relief fund, the Finland government has assured that a decision has been made to donate a significant amount of the money to the country.

According to the report, the government is weighing how to donate to prevent criminals from hijacking the transaction. It was further reported that the final decision will be made by the end of May as the cabinet is still discussing the matter.

Last year, Finland announced a decision to auction confiscated Bitcoins dating back to 2016 when a major drug bust saw the confiscation of 1666 Bitcoins. 

Ukraine sees more donations in Bitcoins

According to the Finnish finance minister Annika Saarikko, they will have to first present it to Parliament in the upcoming supplementary budget. After it is approved, they will auction them in the spring or early summer, which means the donation will take time according to the Director of Finances Pekka Pylkkänen.

Our current intention is to make available to brokers for liquidation the legally enforceable virtual currencies held by Customs, around 1,890 Bitcoin, during the spring or early summer. The money will be remitted to the state as usual, as will all other assets seized by Customs.

As of last month, the Ukrainian government and an NGO providing support for the military had raised about $63.8 million from over 120,000 crypto asset donations since the invasion. This was after the Ukrainian government pleaded for donations in crypto assets through its official Twitter account. It is estimated that the majority of the donations received come in Bitcoin and Ethereum, though US dollar Stablecoin has contributed a large portion. Donations are not only made in cryptos. Many donations have also been made in NFTs to the Ethereum accounts of the Ukrainian government.

It is also reported that the Ukrainian government had spent about €42 million ($44 million) on its crypto donations. Some of the funds were used to acquire drones, helmets, body armor, and other unspecified lethal equipment. Aid for Ukraine has disclosed that it had received donations in cryptos worth over $60 million.

Recently, it was disclosed that scammers have also taken advantage of the situation to trick people into donating to the wrong address through different kinds of campaigns.