Key takeaways:
- Bitcoin and other digital assets are down double-digits as the Russian attack on Ukraine triggers a massive sell-off
- Russia’s leading stock market index lost nearly 30% in the span of the last 24 hours
- Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin is appalled by Putin’s decision to launch a military attack on Ukraine
Crypto and traditional markets plummet as Russia attacks Ukraine
The tensions between Russia and Ukraine reached a boiling point earlier today as the Russian army crossed the border with its western neighbor and began an air raid on Kyiv and surrounding areas.
The traditional financial markets, as well as the cryptocurrency sector, were hit with a large sell-off as a result of geopolitical uncertainty sparked by the launch of a “special military operation” in Ukraine, as Russian President Vladimir Putin calls it.
Russian stocks were hit the hardest. The MOEX Russia Index lost nearly 30% in the last 24 hours as more than $150 billion worth of equities were erased in a single trading day. As of the time of this writing, the leading Russian index is down 50% since its October high.
The negative market sentiment is permeating the globe. EURO STOXX 50, which gauges Europe’s overall economic health, lost 4.59%, one of its worst single-day performances in recent years. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.91%. American equities have experienced the least amount of selling pressure so far, with S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 being down 1.84% and 2.6%, respectively.
On the cryptocurrency front, the downward momentum has been even more pronounced as in traditional financial markets. Bitcoin has plummeted to its four-week low $35,000 price level after losing 10%. Leading altcoin, Ethereum, fared even worst, losing 13.5% and dropping to $2,300, its second-lowest point this year. Virtually all digital assets in the top 100 have been trading in the red zone over the span of the last 24 hours as the total cryptocurrency market cap shrunk by over 12% to $1.61 trillion.
Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin criticizes Putin for abandoning “a peaceful solution”
One of the most prominent voices in the crypto community, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, took to Twitter to criticize Russia for its transgression against Ukraine’s sovereignty. Per Twitter’s auto-translate, Buterin wrote:
“Very upset by Putin’s decision to abandon the possibility of a peaceful solution to the dispute with Ukraine and go to war instead. This is a crime against the Ukrainian and Russian people.”
The Russian-Canadian programmer went on to add that he wishes “everyone security” and concluded his post by adding, “Glory to Ukraine.”
The world economy is facing severe hardship in 2022. There are at least three interest rate hikes planned by the Federal Reserve throughout the remainder of this year, which is bound to shake the markets as it signals a significant tightening of the monetary policy for the first time since the Great Recession in 2008. Unfortunately, Russia’s attack on Ukraine only adds fuel to the fire.
