On Tuesday, Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced unexpected growth. This surge of value erased significant losses from the start of the conflict due to fears that Russia may use the assets to avoid Western sanctions.
Statistics show the rising values of the largest cryptocurrencies. According to these reports, the value of the world’s most valuable digital currency, Bitcoin, surged over 13% to more than $43,100 worth.
On the other hand, there has been a 9% increase in market value for the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, in that time. In light of other cryptocurrencies, Binance Coin had a 5% to 10% increase in value. Meanwhile, Solana, Cardano, and Ripple jumped over 20%. Also, Terra saw a similar increase in value.
According to CoinGecko, which estimates the value of the cryptocurrency industry at roughly $2 trillion, today’s gains are part of a larger rise in the market.
The Effect of Crypto Use Due to The Invasion of Ukraine
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, international countries imposed harsh sanctions on Russia that have restricted the country’s economy. Therefore, the Ruble has experienced all-time low levels. Additionally, Bloomberg cites Kaiko, a crypto analytics provider, that shows a rise in Bitcoin trade in Russian Rubles and Ukraine’s Hryvnia during the current crisis.
It’s possible that people are using both fiat currency and cryptocurrency to help Ukraine. Adding to that, Russia seems interested in its attempts to avoid sanctions by using cryptocurrency. On the other hand, Ukrainian authorities have urged cryptocurrency exchanges to seize assets related to Russian and Belarusian citizens. This request was made since more Russians may be putting their money into cryptocurrency.
As Russia’s economy is hit by more sanctions every day, the value of the Russian currency keeps falling. Given these points, the value of one Bitcoin has surpassed that of one Ruble in Russia. Based on some data provided by CoinMarketCap, it estimates that the market capitalization of Bitcoin is now $821 billion. As a result, it hasking surpassed Russia’s whole Ruble supply, which stands at about $638 billion.