Within a week of announcing it would accept cryptocurrency donations, Ukraine raised nearly $40 million. The Ukrainian government even announced an airdrop for donors. Does this prominent deployment as an instrument of geopolitics mark a new stage in crypto’s development? Robin Schmidt and Camila Russo of The Defiant join Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to assess what Kyiv’s current crypto-reliance means for widespread adoption. Robin, Camila, and Ash also dig into the Pixelmon drama and how it fits within the broader safety and traceability issues in the digital asset space. The NFT project raised more than $70 million, and buyers thought they were purchasing high-quality pieces to use in a metaverse game. But when Pixelmon revealed the artwork, users took to Twitter to express their frustration at the terrible quality. Recorded on March 2, 2022.

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