The non-profit organization Come Back Alive began work in 2014 to provide equipment to the Ukrainian military. Its Patreon side received hundreds of thousands of dollars when Russia invaded Ukraine, but Patreon withheld the funds.

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Patreon, a central intermediary between donors and recipients, decided to investigate the Come Back Alive fundraising campaign. This is terrible behavior and it is hard to imagine that a particular organization could act in this way, especially since it was the case of jackets, first aid kits and helmets for Ukrainian soldiers, donated by a non-profit organization.

At the end of Wednesday, more than 300,000 people had been received, said Taras Schmut, director of Come Back Alive. dollars, including several donations under $1,000. But on Thursday, people who tried to visit the site could only see the message: “This site has been removed.”

Chmut tried to get into the account and figure out how to transfer money to Ukraine, but Patreon blocked the money. The company explains that “support for the purchase of military equipment is prohibited.” A spokesperson said: “Patreon does not allow any campaigns related to violence or the purchase of military equipment, for any reason. (…) We have suspended the disputed campaign pending investigation. If the site is permanently removed, it is our policy. To send the remaining funds to the developer or Refunded to the developer. All obligations.”

Patreon is unaware that Ukrainians need help now, not later, and that many people want help as quickly as possible, and their money is blocked.

Schmut commented on this simply: “People die because they do not have body armor.” He added that he had previously served in the country’s armed forces, and stressed that Ukraine is not rich and has a huge shortage of supplies. That’s why his nonprofit helps soldiers get the equipment they need.

Here comes a good case of using Bitcoin and a decentralized network where there are no intermediaries and no one can block it. Come Back Alive also has a Bitcoin (BTC) wallet and donations in cryptocurrency are flowing in at a rapid pace. Although perhaps less convenient and not easy to use, Bitcoin allows the institution to transfer funds.

You don’t have to worry about Bitcoin about politicians and central banks. It is used to help Ukraine

According to CNBC, BTC donations to the Ukrainian military surged after Moscow launched a large-scale offensive against Ukraine earlier on Thursday. Elliptic, a company that analyzes blockchain traffic, argues that within 12 hours, nearly $400,000 in BTC has been donated to Come Back Alive.

As long as we have phones and internet access, we don’t have to worry about someone blocking our access to the money. Bitcoin is a decentralized network that is not under the control of banks or politicians (although these, of course, try to do this).

Activists have used cryptocurrencies for various purposes to help Ukraine. The money goes to Ukrainian army equipment, military equipment, medical supplies and drones, and funding for the development of a facial recognition app that determines if someone is a Russian mercenary or a spy.

“Cryptocurrency is increasingly being used to finance this type of activity by internet users themselves, with the tacit approval of governments,” said Tom Robinson, chief scientist at Elliptic. Bitcoin, like many other cryptocurrencies, is resistant to censorship and is not limited to country borders.