The war in Ukraine has become a turning point in the world order in many ways, one of which has been in showing off the power and use of digital currencies, BBC wrote.
Bitcoin up 14%, Ethereum 11%
Bitcoin (BTC/USD) gained 14% in the last 24 hours, trading for $43,000 at the time of writing. Its gains over the past 7 days come to just under 18%. The second-biggest cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH/USD), jumped by 11% in 24 hours. Its weekly gains are around 15%.
Binance Coin (BNB/USD), the fourth biggest crypto and the native token of Binance, the biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, gained 9% today and 12% the last 7 days.
The development comes amid reports that Binance will not be blocking Russian users’ accounts despite being asked by the Ukrainian government to do so. Crypto exchange Kraken has also refused.
Russia will use crypto to circumvent sanctions
On Sunday, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov called on all major crypto exchanges to block Russian users. He tweeted:
It’s crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.
The Ukrainian government is concerned that Russia will use crypto to circumvent Western sanctions, being deprived of access to the global financial system.
Millions in Bitcoin pour in from donors
In Ukraine, anonymous entities have donated more than $11 million in Bitcoin to the war effort so far, world media reported. The Ukrainian government, volunteer groups, and NGOs raised the money by advertising their Bitcoin wallet addresses online. Thousands of donations have been made.
The Ukrainian government took to Twitter to fundraise on Saturday afternoon, posting:
Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.
Despite hesitation from leading figures in crypto like Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin, the addresses for two cryptocurrency wallets posted had accumulated more than $5 million within eight hours.
According to insiders, crypto has emerged as a powerful alternative as some crowdfunding and payments companies have refused to allow donations to be made to groups supporting the Ukrainian military.