Hey there 👋 ,

This week has been a harrowing one as Russia launched an invasion against Ukraine.

During times like this, I thought it’d be best to focus my attention on finding projects that resonate with this newsletter, without neglecting events happening in the world.

I’m not an expert nor will I act like one - but I will highlight some interesting things I’ve found that resonate with the themes I regularly write about.

We’ll likely get back to less-serious, more outlandish metaverse claims from next week :).

Thanks for the feedback as always!

- Fahim

🇺🇦 Resources of the week:

UkraineDAO raises millions via NFTs

Pussy Riot helped form a DAO last week to assist Ukrainians seeking support through the Russian invasion.

Their organizing an NFT drop issuing tokens with all proceeds raised donated to organizations supporting Ukraine. Minting goes live on Feb 26th.

The group setup a PartyBid on an NFT of a Ukranian flag so anyone could contribute any amount. UkraineDAO has already raised $3.3m already.

My take: DAO’s allow a group of anonymous/unrelated people to come together to form around a shared mission - in this case, by raising money that can be directed to a specific cause. Using a DAO-like function allows people to join and take responsibilities organically (unlike a charity, with more centralized control) and find other innovative ways to contribute (e.g. joining the NFT team as part of the DAO or joining the research team to find local groups to support).

🐦 Official Ukraine Twitter requests BTC & ETH

Ukraine making this play (via official means) can only be a good thing. When I saw this pop on my feed, I was surprised and delighted the wide embrace of cryptocurrency as a way to raise money from anyone, anywhere in the world instantly.

Nearly $10m has been raised in less than a couple of days.

Additionally, seeing the impact that social media has had on keeping us all informed in real-time and the opportunity to give a platform to President Zelensky & the people on the ground to rally support in real-time.

With so much changing so quickly, the ability to marshal support in real-time can’t be overstated.

📚 Other Resources

Airbnb.org

Airbnb’s non-profit arm, Airbnb.org, will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. These stays will be funded by Airbnb, donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund, and the generosity of Hosts on Airbnb.org. You can volunteer to host or donate to cover costs of housing and relocation here.

UNICEF - Protect Children in Ukraine

Funds go towards ensuring Ukraine’s children have access to safe water, nutrition, health care, education and protection.

You can donate here, if you’re inclined.

Notion document with tons of resources

This document includes a ton of great resources, not just organisations to fund (which are plentiful) but also how you can organise a grass-roots fundraising initiative on your own & where specific groups of people can go (e.g. assistance for people with disabilities or pregnant women).

Ukrainian Red Cross

Final take:

While it doesn’t feel right to bring up the latest wacky thing happening in web3 to share with you all, I didn’t want to be tone-deaf to what’s going on.

I’m doubling-down on → I’m Not An Expert!! ←, but I’m optimistic that the past few days have helped communities to coalesce faster than ever before around shared purposes that actually matter to human livelihood.

Thanks for reading and see you next week,

- Fahim