Bitcoin Falls 5% Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis - Decrypt
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell by nearly 5% over the last 24 hours, amid growing tensions over Russia and Ukraine.
The leading cryptocurrency is currently changing hands at around $37,150, according to CoinMarketCap—down 4.6% from yesterday and reaching levels last seen at the beginning of the month.
Prior to that, Bitcoin tumbled to a daily low of $36,488, dragging the entire crypto market down.
Ethereum, the industry’s second largest crypto asset by market cap, is down 6.1% over the day to a current price of $2,550.
Among the top ten largest cryptocurrencies, XRP, Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) are the worst hit, with their prices plummeting as much as 12%.
Many other digital currencies, including Avalanche (AVAX), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Polygon (MATIC), Cosmos (ATOM), and Chainlink (LINK), posted double-digit losses as well, as the market capitalization of the entire crypto market sank to $1.67 trillion.
Stocks slump as geopolitical tensions mount
On Monday, Russia announced that it had recognized the independence of two breakaway Eastern Ukrainian regions, raising more fears of full-scale military action.
The latest developments, which also saw Russia starting to move its troops into the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) overnight, caused global stocks to tumble.
After the closing bell on Monday, the S&P 500 futures fell 1.5 % and the Nasdaq futures lost 2.2%, while the Russian rouble briefly touched an 18-month low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday morning.
Russian blue-chip stocks fell dramatically on Monday, with the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) equity index tumbling 10.5% amid the fears of a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, extending the plunge on Tuesday morning following Putin’s statement on the recognition of the 'DNR' and 'LNR.'