DENVER, Colo. (KDVR) — A Colorado lawyer is using her expertise in cryptocurrency to help the people from her native country of Ukraine.
Yev Muchnik lives and works in Denver, but she was born in Kiev.
“We immigrated with my parents as Jewish refugees in the late 80s, and it just hits so close to home,” Muchnik said. “The last couple of weeks have just been a nightmare, and you just can’t turn away.”
Seeing the places she used to go to destroyed, knowing distant relatives and friends are facing danger firsthand in Ukraine, the Denver lawyer felt the need to do something.
“I went out to the Twitter world and started circulating ideas on how the WEB3 community, which is the area that I specialize in, how we can come together and find ways to help,” Muchnik said.
Muchnik tells FOX31 she received a huge response, and ideas quickly evolved into online donation chains with volunteers putting their technological expertise toward creating communication channels to connect with people in Ukraine.
“The genesis of that effort is called Ukraine United DAO,” Muchnik said. “After we set that up and set up a telegram channel, set up a discord channel, using all of these decentralized communication methods. We also ended up joining forces with Ukraine DAO and Unchained Fund as well. They have been incredibly active and successful in raising some significant amounts of funds from the crypto and WEB3 community at large.”
Muchnik says the web communities have raised millions in cryptocurrency for different humanitarian needs in Ukraine.
“From hospitals to try to get women and children out, every kind of humanitarian need, these funds have been deployed to and right into people’s wallets, in their hands,” Muchnik said.
Muchnik says the Colorado legal community is also stepping up, and the Colorado Women’s Bar Association is currently working on finding ways to help refugees in Ukraine.
“I’m just, I’m floored by how people have come out and stepped up,” Muchnik said.
Muchnik says Ukraine United DAO is now working on organizing a hackathon.