The price of the flagship cryptocurrency bitcoin ($BTC) has plunged nearly 10% over the last 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine in what appears to be a full-scale invasion of the country.
According to data from CryptoCompare, BTC’s price is now down to $35,200, from around $39,000 24 hours ago. The cryptocurrency was enduring a downtrend before Putin’s announcement, which led to a trading volume surge
In a televised speech, President Putin warned the United States and NATO against getting involved, saying that anyone who “tries to interfere with us, or even more so, to create threats for our country and our people, must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history.”
Russia’s military action has been met with condemnation from world leaders, with U.S. President Joe Biden saying the war would bring “catastrophic loss of life” and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he was “appalled” by the “unprovoked attack.”
The U.S. and NATO are now expected to hit Russia with a broad sanction package, which could include disconnecting the country from the SWIFT network. Russia’s military action has also affected equities markets, with European indices dropping between 2% and 4% at the time of writing.
Russia’s MOEX index was at one point down 45% and is at the time of writing down by 28.5%. Over the last five days, the index has lost 39% of its value, while Russia’s fiat currency, the ruble, hit an all-time low against the U.S. dollar.
Speaking to CNBC Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, said that risk assets “continue to be weighed down by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions.” These assets, Ayyar added, include bitcoin and cryptocurrencies which are “still very much viewed as a high risk asset class.”
Gold, which has historically been viewed as a safe haven, is up 3.2% over the last 24-hours and is now trading at $1,970.
A top cryptocurrency strategist that has gained a large following on social media after accurately calling bitcoin’s 2018 bear market bottom above $3,000 has recently revealed he believes BTC will drop to $28,000 based on technical analysis of the cryptocurrency’s price.
As reported, strategists at JPMorgan Chase led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou have revealed they see Bitcoin’s current “fair value” at around $38,000, while their theoretical BTC price target is at $150,000.
DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.
IMAGE CREDIT
Featured image via Unsplash
