Kalush Orchestra — the Ukrainian band that won this year’s Eurovision song contest — has raised $900,000 for Ukraine’s military after auctioning the competition’s trophy to a crypto exchange.
The band won Eurovision with their song “Stefania,” riding a wave of public support amid the ongoing conflict in their country.
Bids for the trophy were accepted in both cryptocurrencies and traditional currencies, with the auction closing on Saturday evening Ukraine time.
Kalush Orchestra announced on Sunday that crypto exchange platform Whitebit had purchased the award for $900,000.
Whitebit also won a non-fungible token (NFT) of the Eurovision crystal microphone.
Kalush Orchestra frontman Oleh Psiuk said on Instagram that the auction aimed to raise €1 million to buy three PD-2 drone systems for the Ukrainian armed forces.
In total, the event raised more than $1.2 million (€1.12 million).
Pink bucket hat
Kalush’s Psiuk raised a further $370,000 by raffling his famous pink bucket hat, with the winner, who was based in the Czech Republic, selected at random from people who made donations during the auction.
The largest single donation made to the hat raffle was worth around $2,200.
The proceeds from the auction will go to the charitable organization of Ukrainian television personality Serhiy Prytula, which is working to procure aid and military equipment for Ukraine.
Prytula said at the end of the auction that the Eurovision trophy “brought to Ukraine by the band Kalush … now becomes the property of the crypto community.”
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