British MP Matt Hancock launches NFT charity project for Ukraine

British MP Matt Hancock is continuing his mission to support blockchain technology through a new NFT collection called “From Ukrain with Love,” according to a statement given to CryptoSlate.

From Ukraine with Love

The NFT collection comprises works painted by Ukranian artist Oleg Mischenko before the war and will be sold at The NFT Gallery in London’s Mayfair on Monday, 27th February. Funds from sales will go toward CARE International UK’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The collection, “From Ukraine with Love,” was curated by Irina Korobkina, who fled Kyiv with her 5-year-old daughter following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hancock’s involvement stems from hosting Korobkina in the UK since April 2022. Mischenko remained in Ukraine painting as “shells rained down around him” before joining his family in December.

“My husband’s paintings and this NFT collection gives my family and my country hope. Each piece depicts nature in our wonderful Ukraine. It was a beautiful, flourishing, peaceful country until Putin waged this illegal and barbaric war.”

Matt Hancock champions crypto

Regarding the NFT collection, Hancock commented;

“I’m incredibly proud of Irina and Oleg, and I am honoured to support the family with their charity NFT collection[…] Oleg is an incredibly talented artist, and his ‘From Ukraine, With Love’ collection is truly stunning.”

Hancock has been vocal in supporting the blockchain industry with calls to make the UK a “crypto hub.” The MP for West Suffolk has previously focused on advocating for a “growth-maximizing view where revenues in the future will be far greater” in relation to crypto tax and regulation.

However, the launch of this new NFT collection showcases Hancock’s desire to not only champion blockchain as a technology but also to promote its use cases.

Speaking at Zebu Live in London on Sept. 23, 2022, Hancock revealed that he did not hold any crypto assets, including Bitcoin. The MP argued that by not holding crypto personally, he was more able to be objective about its future.

However, this approach is uncommon within the space as a whole, with the majority of influential figures in the crypto space personally investing large sums into digital assets.

Hancock has been bullish on blockchain for some time. In 2016, when he was the Paymaster General, he stated,

“The government cannot bury its head in the sand and ignore new technologies as they emerge[…] That is partly what happened in the past in government with the web … We cannot let (that) happen again by standing still.”

While most of Hancock’s efforts to promote crypto within the UK took place before 2020, he reemerged as the political face of crypto within the British government in 2022, with numerous appearances endorsing UK crypto.

The NFT collection is hosted on Coinbase’s NFT marketplace and launches on Feb. 27.