Yahoo Finance Bitcoin price news – live: ‘Crypto spiralling’ amid Russia and Ukraine war
Geopolitical tensions appear to have killed off a strong bitcoin recovery, which saw gains of more than $10,000 for the cryptocurrency in the first half of February.
The price of BTC managed to return above $37,000 on Wednesday, though it did little to relieve the 15 per cent drop it has seen over the last seven days.
The downtrend was mirrored by other leading cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Ripple (XRP) and Cardano (ADA), which have all fallen by between 15-20 per cent since mid February.
The losses saw the overall crypto market shrink by around $350 million in just over a week, with analysts warning that continued tensions between Ukraine and Russia could see bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies “spiral”.
You can follow all the latest bitcoin price news and crypto market developments in our live blog below.
We will be posting indepth market analysis from leading figures within the industry, as well as expert price predictions for 2022 and beyond.
Key points
Crypto market set for '$10 trillion earthquake’
13:40 , Andrew Griffin
The crypto market is still very much down: it has dropped more than 10 per cent over all, losing more than $100 billion. That is the case across cryptocurrencies: bitcoin is performing badly, having lost almost 9 per cent, but many more are doing far worse, with ethereum down 12 per cent.
03:04 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin price sinks below $37,000
Bitcoin has dropped by over 3 per cent in the last 24 hours and is currently priced close to $36,500 amid rising tensions in Ukraine.
The leading cryptocurrency has sunk in value by over 17 per cent in the last week.
Other top cryptocurrencies including ethereum and solana have also sunk by over 3 per cent in the last day and by nearly 20 per cent in the last week.
Memecoins dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu have also dropped in value by 2 to 4 per cent in the last 24 hours, and by about 20 per cent in the last 7 days.
The overall crypto market has dropped by about 1.5 per cent in the last day and is currently valued at $1.68 trillion.
Bitcoin price hangs on Russia
Wednesday 23 February 2022 19:36 , Anthony Cuthbertson
A lot has been said already about bitcoin’s latest price crash being related to tensions between Russia and Ukraine, but Russian regulators may actually help turn the trend around.
Recent developments by finance decision makers in the country suggest rumours that Russia was ready to ban cryptocurrency last year are now long forgotten, as moves are made to officially recognise the cryptocurrency.
Here’s Will Hamilton, head of trading and research at Trovio Capital Management, with more:
Russia’s Ministry of Finance is pushing forward with its plan to regulate cryptocurrencies in the country and has introduced a bill to parliament. The announcement highlights the policy split with the Bank of Russia, which currently opposes regulation and aims to have digital asset trading and mining banned, due to threats posed to the Digital Rubel the bank is currently developing.
The legislation posed by the Ministry of Finance aims to create legal markets for digital assets, but not implement them as a widespread method of transaction.
Will Hamilton, Trovio
Wednesday 23 February 2022 03:04 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin, ether rise, cardano surges
Bitcoin has grown by about 2 per cent in the last 24 hours, but the leading cryptocurrency is still below the $38,000 mark – down by nearly 15 per cent since last week.
Ethereum has also grown in the last day by over a per cent, but it is also down by 17 per cent compared to its value 7 days earlier.
Other altcoins including solana and cardano have surged by 4 to 6 per cent in the last day, but are still down compared to their values a week earlier.
Memecoins dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu have also grown by 1 to 3 per cent in the last 24 hours.
The overall crypto market has grown by about 2 per cent in the last day and is valued at $1.71 trillion.
More crypto market reaction to Ukraine and Russia events
Tuesday 22 February 2022 13:07 , Anthony Cuthbertson
We’ve heard from Nicholas Cawley, a strategist at finance portal DailyFX, who has more to say about Ukraine’s attitude towards bitcoin and what this might mean for the broader crypto market.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis is affecting all risk markets at the moment, not just bitcoin. The news flow from the region is seemingly biased from both sides while the constant swings in good news/bad news make it difficult to value and trade the market at the current time. Until this changes it is difficult to see any reason to trade bitcoin from either the long or the short side.
From a technical perspective, the break below support at $39.6k has left bitcoin vulnerable to further losses. This negative outlook is also backed up by the market’s take on recent good news. Recent news that Ukraine is in the process of legalizing bitcoin, the Fidelity launch of a bitcoin ETP in Europe, and stories that BlackRock, the $10 trillion asset manager is preparing to offer cryptocurrency support for its customers, would normally give the space a push higher but this hasn’t been the case.
It looks like bitcoin is going to continue to drift sideways with a marginal bias to the downside until the conflict in Eastern Europe is resolved.
Nicholas Cawley, DailyFX
Ukraine Russia tension sends ‘crypto spiralling'
Tuesday 22 February 2022 12:44 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Crypto market analysts have warned that the market could continue to see losses if tensions between Ukraine and Russia don’t ease relatively soon.
“Geopolitical tension sent crypto spiralling last week, killing off a nascent recover for bitcoin and ether prices, among others,” says Simon Peters, an analyst at the online trading platform eToro.
The crypto market typically doesn’t perform well during times of geopolitical uncertainty, with traders and investors tending to move their wealth into safer assets. Added to the mix is recent moves by both Russian and Ukraine to make their stance towards bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies more official by either regulating or legalising them. A negative approach could accelerate losses, while positive steps could actually have a longer term benefit on the market.
Tuesday 22 February 2022 02:59 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin, altcoin prices tank
Bitcoin has dropped in value by more than 5 per cent in the last day, and its price has inched closer to the $37,000 mark.
The leading cryptocurrency has dropped in value by nearly 15 per cent in the last week amid rising tensions in the Ukraine border.
Ethereum has also tanked at a similar rate in the last 24 hours and is currently valued at around $2,600.
Other leading cryptocurrencies, including cardano and solana have also tanked by about 12 per cent in the last day, while memecoins dogecoin and shiba inu have dropped in value by 7 to 10 per cent during the period.
The overall cryptomarket is down by 6 per cent in the last day and is valued at $1.67 trillion.
The chart looks mostly red with no signs of recovery yet.
Monday 21 February 2022 02:51 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin, altcoin prices drop over the weekend
Bitcoin has dropped by about 2 per cent in the last 24 hours and is currently priced closer to $39,000 amid continued tensions at the Ukraine border.
The leading cryptocurrency has dropped in value by over 6 per cent in the last week.
Ethereum has dropped in value by over 3 per cent since early Saturday and is down by nearly 5 per cent in the last 7 days.
Other leading cryptocurrencies like cardano and avalanche are also down by 2 to 4 per cent in the last day. However, Solana has soared by over 5 per cent during this period.
Memecoins dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu remain nearly unchanged compared to their prices 24 hours earlier.
The overall crypto market is down by over a per cent in the last day and is valued at $1.78 trillion.
Bitcoin price drops below $40,000
Friday 18 February 2022 16:00 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin is back below $40,000 for the first time since early February, following a 10 per cent price drop since yesterday.
Other leading cryptocurrencies are also suffering significant losses, with Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) all falling by between 4-6 per cent over the last 24 hours.
The total losses have wiped close to $100 billion from the overall crypto market cap, according to CoinMarketCap.
Friday 18 February 2022 02:51 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin, ether, dogecoin prices fall
Bitcoin price has dropped by over 7 per cent in the last 24 hours, and is valued at around $40,500 as Ukraine tensions rise.
The leading cryptocurrency is down by over 5 per cent compared to its price last week, and is down by 15 per cent compared to its year-to-date high of over $47,000 set on 2 January.
Ethereum is also down by over 7 per cent in the last day and is valued at close to $2,900.
Other leading cryptocurrencies, including cardano, solana, and polkadot are also down by over 5 to 7 per cent in the last day with the overall crypto market falling by over 6 per cent during this period.
Memecoins dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu are also down by over 5 to 7 per cent in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin price ‘storm’ warning
Wednesday 16 February 2022 18:15 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Storm clouds are approaching, and it could be up to a “resilient cohort of hodlers” to see them off, according to a new report from on-chain analysis firm Glassnode.
“On-chain supply dynamics are remarkably stable, a likely indication that investors are prepared to ride out whatever storm lies ahead,” the report states.
“Overall, this speaks to the continuing maturation of the Bitcoin market, as liquidity deepens, and more comprehensive risk management instruments become available. This differs greatly in comparison to historical Bitcoin market cycles where de-risking was possible only by the sale of coins in spot markets.”
You can read the full story here.
Bitcoin set for extreme price ‘storm’ in March 2022, analysts predict
Crypto autumn, not crypto winter, says exchange boss
Wednesday 16 February 2022 14:11 , Anthony Cuthbertson
When bitcoin’s price fell by half between November and January, several leading market commentators warned that it could be the beginning of a so-called crypto winter.
The latest bounce back means such fears are yet to be realised, with billionaire crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried now suggesting it may be a “crypt autumn”.
Speaking to Business Insider, the boss of the FTX exchange said there had definitely been a slowdown but there remained plenty of momentum and excitement in the space.
Bitcoin price ‘looking incredibly bullish'
Wednesday 16 February 2022 10:17 , Anthony Cuthbertson
There are more market signals that the price of bitcoin could be set for a big move, according to prominent analyst PlanB.
The pseudonymous Dutch analyst, who has close to 2 million followers on Twitter, is best known for his Stock-to-Flow model, which puts bitcoin’s price on a path towards six figures at some point this year (originally predicted for late last year).
Looking at bitcoin’s weekly relative strength index (RSI) - a momentum indicator that measures the magnitude of recent price changes to analyse overbought or oversold conditions - PlanB sees bitcoin as “looking incredibly bullish”.
#bitcoin weekly RSI looking incredibly bullish🔥 pic.twitter.com/D6pV1dEBWQ
— PlanB (@100trillionUSD) February 15, 2022
Wednesday 16 February 2022 02:53 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin, ether prices rise, Avalanche surges
Bitcoin has grown by about 1 per cent in the last day, taking its price above the $44,000 mark.
The leading cryptocurrency has grown by over 1.5 per cent in the last 7 days, but is still down by nearly 35 per cent compared to its record high of $69,000 in November.
Ethereum has also grown by about 4 per cent in the last 24 hours, and is up by over 2 per cent in the last week.
Meanwhile, Avalanche has surged by more than 11 per cent in the last day, taking its value close to $95.
The overall crypto market has grown by about 2 per cent in the last day and is currently valued at $1.98 trillion.
Uber will eventually accept crypto, CEO says
Tuesday 15 February 2022 18:08 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Uber is looking into bitcoin and cryptocurrency with a view to adding it as a payment option within its app, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has revealed.
“We’re having conversations all the time,” Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg. “As the exchange mechanism becomes less expensive and becomes more environmentally friendly, I think you will see us leaning into crypto a little bit more.”
Bitcoin price set for big move, analysts predict
Tuesday 15 February 2022 17:26 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Various technical indicators are suggesting that bitcoin could be set for a big move, according to some crypto market analysts.
Crypto investor and author Glen Goodman has spotted a head and shoulders pattern for both bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), which could be followed by a big jump. He includes “the small matter of Ukraine” as a caveat, which could play havoc on traditional markets and subsequently crypto if war with Russia breaks out.
#Bitcoin and #Ethereum head & shoulders patterns are nearing completion.
A couple of worries - the patterns are a bit sloping and irregular.....and also there's the small matter of Ukraine. Wars have a tendency to mess up nice chart patterns (which is rather inconsiderate 😏) pic.twitter.com/jz2KLGQVlt— Glen Goodman (@glengoodman) February 15, 2022
Meanwhile, popular commentator @xamanap points to a massive drop in bitcoin supply on cryptocurrency exchanges, saying, “last time such a big supply dump happened was October 2020, BTC price pumped 290%.”
Massive #Bitcoin drop of supply on exchanges.
Last time such a big supply dump happened was October 2020, BTC price pumped 290%. pic.twitter.com/ZjqEzam7OV— xaman (@xamanap) February 15, 2022
Bitcoin price returns above $44k as crypto included in Canadian emergency powers
Tuesday 15 February 2022 11:10 , Anthony Cuthbertson
The Canadian government has announced that it will expand its Anti-Money Laundering surveillance to cover cryptocurrencies.
“These changes cover all forms of transactions including digital assets and cryptocurrencies,” Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, said at a press conference.
This inadvertent recognition of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as money may be what’s behind the latest BTC price surge, according to some market commentators.
Bitcoin price surge leads crypto market rally
Tuesday 15 February 2022 08:39 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin is up nearly 4 per cent overnight, sparking a market-wide price surge.
Ethereum (ETH), BNB, Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) and Terra (LUNA) are all up by between 5-10 per cent, pushing the overall crypto market cap back towards $2 trillion.
The price rally has added $100 billion to the crypto market since this time yesterday.
Bitcoin mining chip launched by Intel
Monday 14 February 2022 22:51 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Computing giant Intel has launched a new crypto mining chip that it claims is “1,000 times better” than current processors.
The Blockchain Accelerator Chip is also apparently more energy efficient and “has the potential to enable everyone to own much of the digital content and services they create”. It will be going on sale later this year - you can read all about it right here.
Intel designs crypto mining chip that’s ‘1000 times better’ than current processors
Coinbase share price slips after app crashes
Monday 14 February 2022 21:02 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Coinbase was unprepared for the huge rush of visitors to its app following the airing of a Super Bowl ad, which offered $15 in bitcoin to anyone signing up before 15 February.
The app saw more than 20 million hits in one minute, six-times higher than previous benchmarks, causing the website and app to crash.
“We just saw more traffic than we’ve ever encountered, but our teams pulled together and only had to throttle for a few minutes,” Surojit Chatterjee, Coinbase’s chief product officer, wrote on Twitter.
The outage caused the share price of the largest publicly listed crypto exchange to drop by a few per cent, from which it is still yet to properly recover.
Bitcoin price steady but crypto calm under threat?
Monday 14 February 2022 19:55 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin’s quiet start to the week may not last long, according to some crypto market commentators, if reports about BlackRock are to be believed.
The world’s largest asset manager, which handles over $10 trillion in assets for institutions, is planning to enter the cryptocurrency space, according to CoinDesk.
Such a move would cause massive price volatility, with Forbes’ Billy Bambrough describing it as a “$10 trillion earthquake”.
He writes: “One of BlackRock’s funds bought bitcoin futures and just last month the asset manager filed for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would hold blockchain and crypto companies. Through 2021 other Wall Street giants have begun exploring bitcoin and cryptocurrencies amid increasing demand from their clients... Bitcoin and cryptocurrency acceptance on Wall Street was bolstered by the launch of the first U.S. bitcoin futures ETF in October last year and corporate adoption of bitcoin and crypto is slowly increasing.”
Hello and welcome...
Monday 14 February 2022 19:49 , Anthony Cuthbertson
to The Independent’s live coverage of the crypto market. We’ll be bringing you all the latest news and updates from bitcoin, Ethereum and other leading cryptocurrencies, as well as analysis from industry insiders and expert price predictions.
