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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The story of the Aid For Ukraine cryptocurrency fund, launched at the beginning of the full-scale war to collect donations for Ukraine's needs, has again drawn media attention. In public materials, among the initiative's participants were the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the blockchain company Everstake, the crypto exchanges KUNA and FTX.
Particular attention is drawn to the people who stood behind Ukrainian crypto companies. One of the co-founders of Everstake is Yehven Zayfert. The founder of KUNA and a long-time head of the exchange is Mikhail Chobanian. In 2025 the Ukrainian providers began blocking access to KUNA on the basis of a court decision, and Chobanian publicly commented on the situation as the founder and chairman of the board of the exchange.
Aid For Ukraine at launch positioned itself as an official mechanism through which the crypto community could support the Ukrainian army and humanitarian needs. To popularize the fundraising, a campaign Invest in Peace, Bro with an animated rap video featuring then-Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov was created. The creative was developed by the agency Bickerstaff.734 in collaboration with Everstake and the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
During that period, Everstake also actively emphasized its own financial support for Ukraine. According to Ukrainian media reports, the company, together with co-founders Serhiy Vasylchuk and Yehven Zayfert, announced $10 million in aid to Ukraine. At the same time, Zayfert's personal contribution was estimated at $9 million, and about $3,4 million was directed specifically to Aid For Ukraine.
Four years later, the attention to the crypto-donation scheme resurfaced in the context of a criminal case.
According to the publication Femida, citing materials from the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement is examining the possible embezzlement of charitable aid received on cryptocurrency wallets to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This concerns case No.12025000000000407 under part 5 of article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In the materials cited by the publication, KUNA and Mikhail Chobanian are directly mentioned. In particular, it is reported that at the beginning of the war wallets for collecting donations were opened by the KUNA exchange. Subsequently, according to the investigation, Chobanian transferred 150 BTC and 2500 ETH to the account of the American NEANY Inc. as part of a planned purchase of strike drones. At that time, the amount was estimated at about $12,2 million.
As stated in the released materials, the contract with the American company ultimately was not properly concluded, and part of the crypto assets did not return after moving through FTX. The investigation also analyzes the subsequent movement of certain funds.
At the same time, a fundamentally important detail: as of the disclosure of these data, no one has been formally suspected in this criminal case. Therefore, this is a version of the pre-trial investigation, not a proven finding of guilt by a court for Chobanian, KUNA, or any other participants.
Regarding Everstake and Yehven Zayfert, they are directly connected with the history of the creation and media promotion of Aid For Ukraine. However, in the available description of the current criminal case there is no information about charges brought against Everstake or Zayfert.
Thus, the Aid For Ukraine story today has two separate facets: the public role of Everstake, KUNA, and their founders in the cryptocurrency donation infrastructure in 2022 and the current police scrutiny of how part of the funds collected was moved.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Everstake і KUNA знову опинилися в центрі уваги через криптодонати: що відомо про Зайферта, Чобаняна та Aid For Ukraine". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Info-Impulsi.
