Bitcoin and Ethereum both made marginal gains as crypto activity in Russia and Ukraine is “behind the current rally.” Bitcoin climbed slightly, ris
Bitcoin and Ethereum both made marginal gains as crypto activity in Russia and Ukraine is “behind the current rally.”
Bitcoin climbed slightly, rising 1.20% to US$43,893, maintaining its price above the key support level of US$40,000.
Ethereum was up by 1.47% to US$2,946 as it pushes towards US$3,000.
Naeem Aslam, a market analyst at avatrade, believes a flurry of activity in Russia and Ukraine is the reason behind the Bitcoin rally.
“Trading Russian rouble and Bitcoin made a new high. Traders believe that people in Russia and Ukraine are actually behind the current rally in Bitcoin.”
Cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase and Binance, have thus far resisted calls to freeze accounts with Russian addresses, but that could change should the situation in Eastern Europe worsen.
Aslam also believes however that the rally may be short-lived, especially if the US catches wind that cryptocurrency is being used to bypass sanctions.
“If the US begins to see that Russians are using Bitcoin as a means of avoiding sanctions, it is highly likely that the US may push for a coordinated action to ban Bitcoin,” Aslam said.
“Banning bitcoin under that scenario will bring much higher volatility in the Bitcoin price.”
“It may rock the whole financial market because many companies have massive balance sheet exposure in Bitcoin,” Aslam added.
In other news, Colorado looks set to become the first US state to accept tax payments in the form of cryptocurrency in what is another step toward the widespread adoption of digital tokens.
The governor said it will accept crypto payments converted into a dollar value which would be deposited into the state’s treasury.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum have edged higher, the same cannot be said for the entire market, where performance has been hit and miss.
XRP is down 1.44% to US$0.7637 while Cardano is down 1.88% to U$0.9507.
Solana, however, has pushed back above US$100, up 4.95%, while Terra is also up 4.51% to US$92.87.
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