Russian journalists solicit crypto donations amidst western sanctions

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Russian readers have been unable to make payments on the leading Russian language news website Meduza after the West imposed sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions have prevented the payment company Strike from serving its Russian readers of the Latvian outlet. 

Customer payments are the main source of money for the news website. Currently, Meduza relies on alternate funding sources, such as cryptocurrencies. "We couldn't predict that the sanctions of Western governments will come first and destroy our crowdfunding," Editor-in-Chief Ivan Kolpakov stated. 

After Putin effectively outlawed independent war reporting, keeping the lights on has become crucial to Russia's free press. The main predicament is figuring out how to report about their country from outside after the new restrictions scattered hundreds of local journalists around the globe.

Meduza continues to publish investigations; however, the information is blocked in Russia, forcing users in Meduza's core market to access it via virtual private networks. Meduza pushed its readers to download their news app and follow their Telegram channel, and their audience adapted quickly. 

Following the restrictions, Meduza has lost nearly a third of its traffic, and they still need funds to keep going. Instead of relying on donations from its 30,000 Russian followers who supported it prior to the war, Meduza is now appealing to its international audience to give dollars, euros, or cryptocurrency as soon as possible to assist its 25 journalists, who are largely based in Riga.