The Kalush Orchestra, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, has auctioned off its trophy to raise money for the Ukrainian army.
The band, whose song Stefania won in Turin earlier this month, said she raised $ 900,000 (£ 713,000) by auctioning off the glass microphone and another $ 370,000 by raffling off the pink hat worn by leader Oleh. Psiuk during the performance.
The winning bid for the trophy was attributed to Whitebit, a cryptocurrency exchange, and came in the form of 500 ethereum.
Writing on Facebook, the band said, “You guys are amazing. We thank each and every one of you for making a donation to this auction and a special thank you to the Whitebit team who bought the trophy for $ 900,000 and are now the rightful owners of our trophy. “
Sunday’s auction was hosted by Ukrainian TV presenter Serhiy Prytula. The money will go to his charity, which raises money for the Ukrainian army in its battle against Russian invading forces.
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Offers in cryptocurrency and traditional currencies were accepted.
Prytula said there were 31,088 entries in the hat draw and that the winner was based in the Czech Republic.
The Kalush Orchestra, which fought as part of the Ukrainian resistance a few weeks before Eurovision, received support from all over Europe for its performance.
They defeated Britain’s Sam Ryder in second place, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the country would host the competition in Mariupol next year.