Pussy Riot Are Using NFTs To Fight Putin

Having spent two years in jail for singing an anti-Putin song, it’s not surprising that Pussy Riot founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova was quick to act when Russia invaded Ukraine last month, and her weapon of choice was NFTs.

In a new interview with The Guardian, the Russian artist and activist opened up on the Ukraine DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation), an initiative launched by herself and members of the cryptocurrency world in order to raise funds for Ukrainian relief following the actions of “insane” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The group released a 1/1 NFT of the Ukrainian flag, and it sold to the highest bidder for $US7.1 million five days later, with that money going to Ukrainian aid organisations.

“We felt, me and my friends in crypto, that we had to react somehow,” Tolokonnikova told The Guardian.

“I’m personally convinced that in situations like this, activism is the only thing that can keep you sane. 

“Just looking at disasters and tragedies and not doing anything about it is really detrimental for the world, but also it slowly destroys you and makes you feel helpless.”

Tolokonnikova has this week helped launch UnicornDAO, a crypto fund that supports female and LGBTQ+ artists by buying their work.

“It’s not going to be just buying up their works of art; we’re going to be working with them, helping them in various ways to have stable and sustainable careers,” Tolokonnikova said.

“I feel like the NFT world is a great way to redistribute money, but we see these old patterns being repeated. Misogyny doesn’t go anywhere, it just migrates over to digital artwork. Women account for only five per cent of all NFT sales. It’s so much more difficult to prove there is value in your words if you happen to be a woman.”

She noted that fighting injustice via NFTs and crypto was far safer than millions of people taking to the street to overrun Putin, because “that is obviously incredibly dangerous”.

“Putin is insane, so he might open fire at his own people. I definitely understand why everybody is not already on the streets,” Tolokonnikova said.