World Art Bank (WAB) has launched a new platform to sell digital NFTs by Ukrainian artists in a bid to raise financial support for the 2 million-plus refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.
WAB has created a unique solution, the ‘Art for Ukraine’s Refugees‘ project, for emergency fundraising by merging art, crypto assets and NFTs.
A collection of iconic paintings from Ukrainian avant-garde artists and sketches depicting the invasion of Ukraine will be sold in tokenised format to raise £2.5million (€3million) to aid the refugee crisis which is quickly engulfing Europe.
Although NFTs have been around since 2014 they have become an increasingly popular way to buy and sell artwork in a digital format. A staggering $25billion has been spent on NFTs in 2021, and the market continues to grow.
WAB is the first art asset-backed cryptocurrency. Launching 20 March, WAB leverages its expertise to create an art NFT collection for a not-for-profit humanitarian campaign.
All funds collected will be credited into a dedicated crypto account set up by the Ukrainian government and directed to the people of Ukraine to use for humanitarian purposes.
“As the world’s first asset-backed crypto token, we see NFTs as a great opportunity to provide direct financial support to the Ukrainian people by the purchase of art by their greatest national artists,” comments WAB CEO Eric Pelletier.
“We’re seeking to leverage a digital approach to the age-old problem of helping a country under threat and supporting its refugees, by creating a new NFT purchase portal, Art for Ukraine’s Refugees.”
Art for Ukraine’s Refugees, with the support of WAB, will issue and sell 1,045 NFTs to support Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict.
These NFTs will be sold in ETH, WETH, BNB and USDC on OpenSea, with an access point as low as €20 per share. Proceeds are expected to reach upwards of €3million.
The NFTs are created by cyber artist Mobaygv and are a mix of sketches from the current war in Ukraine, and from contemporary Ukrainian artist paintings from a private collection which include works by Malevich, Ekster and Tatlin, from the early twentieth century.
Art for Ukraine’s Refugees is issuing 1,045 NFTs created by Mobaygv using an algorithm combining 109 paintings with 100 sketches from Ukrainian refugees and the war. The best 1,045 combinations have been turned into NFTs.
An additional tranche of 500 NFTs will be auctioned as well should the first tranche of 500 NFTs sell quickly.
The NFTs will be released on Sunday, 20 March 2022, with auctions and sales phased over that week, ending on Sunday, 27 March 2022.
