Monat: März 2022

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The reason why Bitcoin and crypto market at large is plummeting after a short-lived surge

After jumping by over 8% on Wednesday, Bitcoin has fallen again followed by a majority of popular cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has staged a spirited bullish trend in the past week or so that had seen it rise above $42,000 by yesterday before the tables turned and pushed it to around $39,000 at the time of writing.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has followed suit by nose-diving again and it is now trading at around $2,500. The bear market has affected the majority of the top 100 coins; most of which were skyrocketing for the past few days.

In this article, we are going to look at what is causing the rough tides within the crypto market? Why is it that it is crashing every time it tries to make a comeback?

Why has Bitcoin and the majority of coins fallen today?

The main contributor to today’s crypto market crash is the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine appears to only bear a heavy burden on the stock market but also on digital assets like bitcoin (BTC).

While some analysts like Mark Mobius claim that the conflict in Eastern Europe has most likely helped bitcoin stay strong, the fact is that the crypto market could be heading for a major drop if the conflict continues. And it is evident from how the market has been behaving.

Short-lived effect of Biden’s executive order

The fact is that the recent short-lived bullish trend was attributed to the much anticipated executive order by the president of the United States Joe Biden.  Immediately the executive order was signed it only took a few hours for the effect of the news to fade away leaving the market at the mercy of the ruthless bear forces caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

The threat of the war becoming bigger is threatening the crypto market further since investors are either pulling out their money completely or taking a break from buying risk-based assets like bitcoin for fear that the assets will crash.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett warned that it is not wise to buy bitcoin during times of war and a majority of investors appear to be buying the advice. There are also uncertainties surrounding the future of the ongoing conflict with the majority asking themselves what position nations like the US, the UK, Germany, France, and China will take if Russia intensifies the attacks.

The post The reason why Bitcoin and crypto market at large is plummeting after a short-lived surge appeared first on Coin Journal.

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Analyst: Sanctions on Russia could push more people into crypto

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a cascade of events that in one way or the other, has helped shine the spotlight on crypto.

If you look at it, we see sanctions putting Moscow in an economic stranglehold, made worse by a ban on Russian oil and numerous companies exiting the Russian market.

On the one hand, we have Russians who are finding it hard to move their money into crypto. 

Why, because the ruble has plummeted to the floor, sanctions have hit banks, and payment giants like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal have pulled the plug on transactions initiated from within the country.

“I think we may refer to 2022 as the year of the big catalyst for crypto because what governments did is actually force adoption,” said Ran Neuner, the host of CNBC’s Crypto Trader show.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Neuner added that what governments have done, especially with the sanctions, is forcing people to look elsewhere.

He sees the whole banning and suspend thing as “ridiculous”- referring to the decisions by Visa and Mastercard, among other payment providers, to suspend services in Russia.  

According to him (as quoted by Al Jazeera) these events are going to force people to look for an alternative financial system- in this case, the financial freedom of crypto.

Crypto exchanges are reluctant to impose a blanket ban

Crypto exchanges- Binance, Coinbase and Kraken- have so far refused to institute a blanket ban on Russian users. But as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said last week, even these exchanges might be forced toe the line if they are needed to.

“Some ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed. Many of them likely oppose what their country is doing, and a ban would hurt them, too. That said, if the US government decides to impose a ban, we will of course follow those laws,” the Coinbase chief shared last week.

Exchanges are therefore screening accounts to block only those likely to help evade sanctions. Indeed, Coinbase said on Tuesday that it would be blocking 25,000 such accounts. 

It’s a small number given there are more than 17 million cryptocurrency holders, but still, a ban across all the major exchanges could hurt millions.

In 2021, a survey report showed that crypto was the fifth-most popular investment asset class in Russia. More people (17%) invested in cryptocurrency than in gold (16%) and stocks and shares (10%).

The post Analyst: Sanctions on Russia could push more people into crypto appeared first on Coin Journal.