On Monday, the crypto market kicked off the week on a strong note despite Russia-Ukraine border tensions sapping traders’ risk appetite last week. At press time, Bitcoin is trading at $41,153, up 5.32% on the day and 5.67% in the past seven days as the general crypto market gains over $150 billion today.
Cardano has soared by 5.80% in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $0.93, while Solana holds its ground at $95 after bouncing above the $90 support. Other cryptocurrencies continue to exude strength with Terra gaining more than 9% in the past 24 hours despite a turbulent week.
This strength has however been a result of various factors. With Russia/Ukraine tensions taking a turn for the worst in the past four or so days, cryptocurrencies have been thrust under the spotlight in a positive way both for Ukrainians and Russians. On one hand, Ukraine has been receiving a ton of donations in crypto aimed at providing emergency relief to its citizens after the Ukraine government asked for donations to resist the Russian Invasion.
As of writing, the country has received over $30,000,000 in crypto donations, with exchanges such as Binance and FTX leading in pooling donations. This is seen as painting a positive picture for cryptocurrencies hence the urge for investors HODLing their holdings and buying dips.
On the other hand, Russia’s focus on crypto has been heightened by a barricade of sanctions thrown at it in the past few days following the invasion. A decision by western allies to alienate Russia from The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a global messaging platform for banks is also set to deal a crippling economic blow on Russia, the more reason the country could turn to crypto.
Ukraine has however been pushing for crypto exchanges to freeze Russian and Belarusian crypto accounts, a request that has not been welcomed by most crypto proponents including Kraken’s CEO.
Today, Russia has hiked interest rates to 20% and imposed some controls on the flow of capital in a bid to shield the economy from the impact of sweeping Western sanctions. This has been seen as an attempt to attract investors while trying to tone down global focus on its Ukraine activities, which tends to lower the contagion effect of the stock market tumbling along with Cryptocurrencies.
