Finland Shall Be Selling €75 million Worth of Confiscated Bitcoins to Support Ukraine

Ever since Russia announced its invasion of Ukraine, the invaded country has been receiving strong donations in crypto to fund its war effort. Joining recently is the Nordic country of Finland which has vowed to donate “tens of millions” of Euros earned through the sale of confiscated Bitcoins.

Finland’s finance minister Annika Saarikko tweeted the same on Wednesday, April 27. The translated tweet reads:

The government will donate tens of millions to help Ukraine thanks to the proceeds from the sale of @SuomenTulli confiscated bitcoins. Historical, collaborative decision @VMuutiset & @Ulkoministerio. The solution is legitimate and good. Allocation in the amending budget in the coming weeks.

Currently, Finland is holding nearly 2,000 confiscated Bitcoins worth €75 million as per the current price. The Finnish customs had seized these Bitcoins during the criminal investigation.

On Thursday, the Finnish customs said that they have chosen local crypto firms Coinmotion and Tesseract to carry out the BTC sale. The customs department showed confidence in these two platforms stating that they were satisfied with their “procedures to prevent money laundering and investigate the background of the buyer”.

It isn’t sure enough whether Finland shall be giving up all of its confiscated BTC. However, sources speaking to local news publication Helsingin Sanomat said that the government will transfer a “significant portion” as aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine Receiving Crypto Donations

Since the war, Ukraine has been receiving donations in crypto from different parts of the world. To streamline the process further, the country also decided to legalize cryptocurrencies.

Many market analysts believe that the war in Ukraine will give rise to cryptocurrency adoption globally. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also said that the economic sanctions imposed on Russia could possibly decrease the dominance of the U.S. Dollar in the world.

Finalnd’s recent Bitcoin donations to Ukraine will take time. Saarikko said that the plans shall be presented to the country’s parliament in upcoming budget.