Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a barrage of tough economic sanctions from world governments which have isolated Russia from the global financial system, hobbled its economy and sent its currency, the ruble, plummeting to record lows. Crypto trading, notably bitcoin, in both rubles and Ukraine’s hryvnia has spiked during the conflict, Bloomberg reports, citing crypto data firm Kaiko. It’s unclear why interest has spiked, though reasons could include the volatility of both fiat currencies and cryptocurrency being used to donate to the Ukrainian effort, as well as Russia attempting to use crypto to evade sanctions. With more Russians possibly moving their money into cryptocurrencies, Ukrainian officials have called on exchanges to block Russian users and freeze assets linked to Russian and Belarusian people.
SURPRISING FACT
Bitcoin is now worth more than the Russian ruble. The surge in bitcoin’s value has coincided with the tumbling value of Russia's ruble following stinging sanctions punishing the Russian economy. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the market capitalization of bitcoin (around $821 billion) now exceeds the supply of the Russian ruble (65.3 trillion rubles as of February 1, approximately $638 billion at the time of writing).
