The crypto market sharply rebounded on Tuesday despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other coins posted major gains for the past 24 hours as the U.S. imposes further sanctions on Russia.
Despite the ongoing conflict that previously dragged the crypto market down last week, Bitcoin managed to post massive gains, on Tuesday. At the time of writing, BTC traded at $44,598.24 up 17.18 percent in the past 24 hours based on data from Coinmarketcap.
Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain and the second-largest crypto by market cap, surged on Tuesday as well. At the time of writing, ETH traded at $3,012.16 per token, up 14.91 percent in the past 24 hours.
Market analysts said that there could be a number of factors behind the sharp rebound of Bitcoin and Ether prices. These include investors buying the dip, attempts to evade sanctions, and Ukrainians and Russians using crypto to try to get their funds out of their respective countries, according to CNBC.
The crypto market’s rally arrived just as the U.S. imposed further sanctions on Russia. Some believe that the rally might have something to do with Russia trying to use crypto to evade sanctions.
“I would say that’s the reason why bitcoin has shown strength now — because the Russians have a way of getting money out, getting their wealth out,” Mark Mobius, founding partner of Mobius Capital Partners, said.
However, this strategy could run into some problems. “You’re going to see Russia attempt to circumvent the U.S. financial system by turning to crypto,” Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, said. “I think the issue is … the liquidity just simply isn’t there.”
There are those who suspect that Russians and Ukrainians might be trying to use crypto to get their funds out of their countries, fueling the rally. “Until there were no heavy financial sanctions on Russia, bitcoin was moving in tandem with the U.S. stock indexes, but these reports, which confirmed real use case for cryptocurrencies in times of crisis, are pushing the price higher,” Yuya Hasegawa, crypto market analyst at Japanese exchange Bitbank, said.
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