The Ruble, on Monday, fell by around 25% dropping below $0.01, a new record low.
Bitcoin price has been steadily rising over the past few days, blowing past the Russia Ruble, after the country was hit with several sanctions from members of the European Union. Bitcoin’s price recouped over 15% of its losses after dropping below $35,000 just days ago, following Russia’s announcement of a so-called “military operation” in its neighboring country, Ukraine.
Bitcoin rose above $41,000 on Monday afternoon and kept climbing to a 12-day high at just over $44,000. Bitcoin price at press time was trading at $43,184 and is up by 12.55% in the last 24 hours. Its latest surge is the most significant daily price increase since February 2021, when it gained almost 20% within a day.
Russia’s Ruble has shed almost 30% over the weekend with the crash linked to the fresh set of sanctions imposed by the Western on Russia. The Ruble, on Monday, fell by around 25% dropping below $0.01, a new record low. The Ruble’s crash comes after banks in the country were kicked off the SWIFT global interbank messaging service over the weekend alongside a seizure of the assets of its central bank.
“Russia is entering a full financial crisis,” Bilal Hafeez, the chief executive of financial analysis platform Macro Hive, stated in emailed comments, adding that the ruble is collapsing.
Some analysts have also partly linked Bitcoin’s latest price surge to the number of people exchanging Rubles to the cryptocurrency, stating that many are doing so because Bitcoin can serve as a store of value during times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO of the crypto exchange BitFinex, speaking on the latest development stated:
“In these uncertain times, we have seen an uptick in the utility of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.”
“It goes without saying the defining characteristics of bitcoin allow it to act as a safe haven during turbulent times,” he added.
Additional reports revealed that the ruble-Bitcoin trades reached a nine-month high over the weekend with a similarly reported spike in ruble trades for Tether, the cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar.
According to data from FiatMarketCap, Bitcoin has surpassed Russia’s ruble for the first time as investors are reportedly shielding their assets in the face of the current global financial sanctions.
BestChange.ru, a Russian crypto exchange, went offline in the early stages of Monday, prompting speculation that it was either hacked or caused by a swarm of people attempting to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with Rubles.
In reaction to Western sanctions, Russia’s central bank increased interest rates by more than doubling them to 20% on Monday.
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