Russian Invasion Triggers Crypto Crash

Russia’s invasion of two rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine late on Monday has sent shockwaves around the world, but the move has also impacted cryptocurrencies.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wiped from the value of leading cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum, binance (BNB), solana, cardano and XRP, as worried traders retreat from risker investments.

The share price fall comes after Russia claimed its troops were acting in a “peacekeeping” role in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk which Moscow recognised as independent states on Monday.

These are the Ukraine states that Russia ‘unofficially’ invaded with debadged troops in 2014.

Crypto fall

Bitcoin for example was trading at $36,649 at 2:30 am ET, falling nearly 6.5 percent in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinDesk. It is currently trading at $37,530, as of Tuesday afternoon.

The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency had below $40,000 over the weekend, and has continued to slide as the Ukraine crisis intensifies.

Ethereum meanwhile fell over 8 percent and is currently trading at $2,591, but in the past 24 hours fell as low as $2,503.

Solana is down 3.20 percent in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $84.69.

Cardano is down 4.49 percent in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $0.86.

XRP is down 8.52 percent and is currently trading at $0.69.

Binance (BNB) is down 0.32 percent in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at £268.50.

Falling value

Last month bitcoin plummeted in value amid a broader sell off for cryptocurrencies, falling under $41,000.

Bitcoin has lost over 40 percent since hitting a record high of $69,000 in November, and the 40 percent decline demonstrates the extreme volatility that has plagued the cryptocurrency since its birth in 2009.

This volatility, coupled with the criminal usage of cryptocurrency, has hardened the stance against it by many major central banks around the world.

New Scientist data recently revealed that 12 of the UK’s 48 police forces have seized bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies worth £322 million during criminal investigations during the past five years.

And blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis recently warned that cryptocurrency-linked crime surged to a record high last year in terms of value in 2021, with illegal addresses receiving $14 billion in digital currencies, up 79 percent from $7.8 billion in 2020.