Bitcoin, Ether Continue to Rise in Value Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies continued their momentum from Monday even as Russia escalated its efforts to take control of Ukraine. The performance of the wider crypto market has been notably positive when compared to other forms of risk-on stocks which have all witnessed a drop-off in value across major indexes over the past 24 hours. The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency witnessed a 6 percent rise in value through Monday, and continued to rise through Tuesday too, rising 3.08 percent in value over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin’s value currently stands at $45,603 (roughly Rs. 34 lakh) on Indian exchange CoinSwitch Kuber.

Meanwhile, on global exchanges, the price of the most popular cryptocurrency stood at $44,200 (roughly Rs. 33 lakh) up by 2.55 percent over the past 24 hours. As per CoinGecko data, Bitcoin has picked up by 15 percent in value over the past week, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the potential usefulness of cryptocurrencies to investors.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, also shot up in value in the wake of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. At the time of writing, Ether is valued at $3,037 (roughly Rs. 2 lakh) on CoinSwitch Kuber while values on global exchanges see the cryptocurrency’s value hover above the $2,900 (roughly Rs. 2 lakh) mark at $2,939 (roughly Rs. 2 lakh), where the coin went up by 1 percent over the past 24 hours. Compared to the price of Ether a week ago, CoinGecko data reveals that the cryptocurrency’s value is up by more than 10 percent.

Gadgets 360’s cryptocurrency price tracker reveals that all the top digital tokens were in the green as the global crypto market cap jumped about 1 percent in the last 24 hours. Binance Coin and Terra lead the green surge, followed by Polygon, Polkadot, Cardano, and Solana.

Shiba Inu and Dogecoin, the two most well-known meme coins, went up in value in the past 24 hours. Dogecoin is currently valued at $0.14 (roughly Rs. 10.5) after rising by 2.47 percent over the last 24 hours, while, Shiba Inu is valued at $0.000027 (roughly Rs. 0.002), up by 5.06 percent over the past 24 hours.

At a time when the geopolitical dynamic is constantly changing, and governments seem to be everywhere, some people have turned away in favour of cryptocurrencies. The idea that these funds are detached from any government control makes them attractive because they can’t be influenced by anything besides supply-and-demand factors and not even warring conflicts overseas, making crypto a valuable asset during turmoil.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have identified and confiscated 30 cryptocurrency wallets that were allegedly funding the Hamas group. These wallets, controlled by 12 accounts, are reportedly owned by an exchange firm named al-Mutahadun, which is based in the city of Gaza. Benny Gantz, the defence minister of Israel, approved the seizure of these accounts and declared al-Mutahadun as a terror group itself. The Shamlah family, which runs this exchange firm, has come under the scanner several times in the past.

Israel’s defence ministry has accused these suspicious accounts of assisting “the Hamas terror group, and especially its military wing, by transferring funds amounting to tens of millions of dollars a year.”

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.