Ukrainian artist’s work given as NFTs to Taiwan donors

A Swiss foundation has been issuing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as incentives to attract donations to a Taiwanese account established by the government to help refugees forced to flee the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Humanity Token, produced by the Swiss nonprofit foundation DECENT, had as of Friday issued up to 100 NFTs of digital art by Ukrainian artist Maria Moroz.

Moroz’s collection of eight works touch on the recent outpouring of support from Taiwan and Slovakia to Ukrainians during their plight.

Donors to the Relieve Disaster Foundation account can apply for a regular NFT with a minimum donation of NT$250 (US$8.71) or one of two special-edition animated NFTs for a donation of NT$500, DECENT partnerships director Ashley Reeves said.

Donors should take a screenshot of their donation and complete an online form to be eligible for an NFT, Reeves said, adding that the first NFT was issued on March 20.

DECENT issued eight NFTs as a special thank-you to one donor who contributed NT$30,000, said Reeves, who is based in Taipei.

DECENT will issue 250 NFTs, each of six regular designs, and 200 of two special animated designs, he said.

Issuing NFTs is a way to reflect a spirit of unity with Ukraine and to say “thank you” to the people who donated, he said.

“We are of course always open to branding opportunities, but for the Ukraine crisis we wanted to utilize technology that we are involved in, to provide a small incentive to Taiwanese donors to help the Ukraine crisis in any way possible,” Reeves said.

Although the donation drive ended on April 1, Reeves said that the foundation would continue to accept online applications for NFTs over the coming days.

“The Web site itself we will probably leave up, and will look for other charity portals in the interim,” Reeves said.