Bitcoin fell hard as Russia launched a full-scale military movement over Ukraine. Enthusiasts are agree that cryptocurrency’s value is the safe haven to hedge against inflation and other risks in traditional markets, but hours after Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine on Thursday, cryptocurrencies plummeted.
The market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies slid to as low as $1.5 trillion, losing almost 9% in 24 hours. The prospect of damage to the global economy also weighted on broader financial markets, with the Stoxx 600 Europe index falling more than 3%, micro Nasdaq 100 futures down 2.3% and Russia’s MOEX equity index dropping a record 28%.
In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin fell 8%, touching $34,725 in early Asian hours. The fear & greed index – a tool used to calculate public sentiment of the crypto market – fell 2 points to a “fear” level reading of 23. Ether, the native currency of the game-building blockchain Ethereum, has crashed 7% to $2,404 per unit.
Solana, which is popular among NFT creators, tanked 10% to $83, too. Even Shiba Inu, a meme coin which enjoyed logic-defying 49,000,000% growth last year, sank 10%.
According to the analysts, the total crypto market lost $160 billion of value in the past 24 hours, plunging 10% since the Ukraine invasion began.
Liquidations, or losses on crypto-tracked futures, reached over $250 million in early Asian hours as major cryptocurrencies tumbled more than 10%. In the past 24 hours, ether lost 12% of its value, with Cardano’s ADA and Solana’s SOL falling as much as 16%.
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