Yahoo Finance Bitcoin news – live: BTC price slides amid global market turmoil
The price of bitcoin has dropped below $40,000 at the start of the week, having climbed above $44,000 at the beginning of March.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine initially sparked a mass sell-off, causing BTC to plummet from $39,000 to below $35,000 before a strong recovery.
The cryptocurrency bounced back almost as quickly as it crashed, with some analysts pointing to bitcoin’s ability to serve as a safe-haven asset during times of geopolitical uncertainty.
Ukraine’s request for bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) donations over the weekend prompted millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency to be given towards the eastern European country’s defence efforts, which the Ukranian Digital Ministry saying it would be used to “help Ukraine armed forces”.
Ukraine also asked exchanges to freeze Russian and Belarusian crypto accounts, and on Monday the Russian cryptocurrency exchange BestChange appeared to be down.
You can follow all the latest crypto news, analysis and expert price predictions in our live coverage below.
Key points
Russian crypto exchange down
Cryptocurrency donations to Ukraine top $20m
Bitcoin overtakes the Ruble
Swiss city adopts bitcoin
18:18 , Anthony Cuthbertson
The Swiss city of Lugano plans to make bitcoin, Tether and its own cryptocurrency legal tender, allowing people to buy goods and services.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether, said: “We envision a future where businesses of all sizes and scale are able to leverage blockchain platforms to improve the quality of life of local citizens providing more sustainable, transparent, and reliable financial and day-to-day services.”
You can read the full story here.
Swiss city to adopt bitcoin as legal tender
Bitcoin price swings explained
11:10 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Simon Peters, an analyst at the online trading platform eToro, has offered his thoughts on what’s behind the “wild swing” from $35,000 to $44,000 and now back to $38,000.
“Price changes, like those in the stock markets, were driven by the geopolitical machinations in Russia, as uncertainty continued to rule and investors de-risked,” he says.
“That being said, the swings we’re seeing are more broadly being caused by uncertainty among investors around the world. Despite regional changes in demand, cryptoassets are ultimately global and reflect that in their price changes.”
Apple co-founder calls bitcoin ‘pure gold'
07:33 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Apple co-founder Steve ‘Woz’ Wozniak has described bitcoin as “pure-gold mathematics”.
Speaking with Business Insider, he had some less favourable words to say about other “rip off” cryptocurrencies.
There’s so many cryptocurrencies that come out now; everybody has a way to create a new one, and you have a celebrity star with it. It seems like they’re just collecting a bunch of money from people who want to invest at the very earliest stage, when it’s worth pennies.
Steve Wozniak
02:38 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin, altcoin prices fall further
After trading above $45,000 on Wednesday, bitcoin has plunged further to about $38,000, dropping in value by about 3.5 per cent in the last 24 hours.
Ethereum has also sunk by about 5 per cent in the last day, and by over 4 per cent in the last week.
Other leading cryptocurrencies including solana, cardano, and avalanche have plunged by about 6 to 7 per cent in the last 24 hours.
Memecoins dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu have also dropped in value by over 4 per cent in the last 24 hours.
The overall crypto market is down by 3.5 per cent in the last day and is valued at $1.72 trillion.
The chart was all red with no signs of recovery on Sunday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified.
Friday 4 March 2022 02:37 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin and altcoin prices plunge
Bitcoin is priced currently at over $41,000, and has dropped in value by over 5 per cent in the last 24 hours as Russia escalates its attack on Ukraine.
Ethereum is down by over 7 per cent in the last day and is valued at close to $2,700.
Other top cryptocurrencies, including solana, cardano, and polkadot have plunged by 5 to 7 per cent in the last 24 hours.
Memecoins dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu are also down by over 5 per cent during this period.
The overall crypto market is also down by about 5 per cent in the last day and is valued at $1.83 trillion.
The attack on Ukraine began to show crypto’s potential as a way to conduct transactions outside traditional financial service networks.
While crypto investors initially saw this optimistically and bitcoin’s price soared earlier this week, the momentum seems to have faded.
Is bitcoin finally fulfilling its ‘digital gold’ potential
Thursday 3 March 2022 15:43 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin’s dramatic price rise this week, which coincided with the Russian ruble’s collapse, appears to have proved its utility as a safe-haven asset in times of geopolitical or economic crisis.
We’ve looked at the data and heard from leading market analysts to see whether bitcoin is finally fulfilling its potential as a form of “digital gold”, or whether it is being utilised as a tool to evade severe sanctions – or both.
“We may be witnessing the world’s first major conflict in the age of cryptocurrency,” one expert told us, “and this is proving to be a great test case to see how bitcoin performs.”
You can read the full story here:
Is bitcoin finally fulfilling its ‘digital gold’ prophecy?
Ukraine cancels crypto airdrop
Thursday 3 March 2022 15:19 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Ukraine’s mysterious cryptocurrency airdrop, which was scheduled to take place at 6pm local time today, has been cancelled and replaced with an NFT sale.
“After careful consideration we decided to cancel airdrop,” Mr Fedorov tweeted. “Every day there are more and more people willing to help Ukraine to fight back the aggression,” tweeted Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. “Instead, we will announce NFTs to support Ukrainian Armed Forces soon. We DO NOT HAVE any plans to issue any fungible tokens.”
You can read more about it here.
Bitcoin volume hits 2022 high
Thursday 3 March 2022 10:25 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin saw its highest trading volume of 2022 this week, according to new data from Arcane Research.
The volume pushed above $10 billion, marking the highest point since 4 December, 2021, with the cryptocurrency data firm stating: “The market seems to be waking up after a dozy February.”
Crypto market commentator Lark Davis noted the trend, suggesting it occurred “in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict”.
Real #bitcoin volumes hit their highest level this year earlier in the week in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. pic.twitter.com/lJsu979NZo
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) March 2, 2022
Thursday 3 March 2022 02:39 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin and altcoins drop slightly
After soaring above the $45,000 mark on Wednesday, bitcoin’s value has dropped slightly and is close to $44,000.
The leading cryptocurrency has grown by over 18 per cent in the last week, and has remained nearly unchanged compared to its value a day earlier.
Other top cryptocurrencies are also showing similar trends.
Ethereum has grown by over 14 per cent in the last 7 days and has remained unchanged compared to its value 24 hours earlier.
Cardano has sunk by over 2 per cent in the last day while solana’s value is nearly the same as it was a day ago.
Dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu have slipped by over 1 per cent in the last day.
The overall crypto market has not changed in value over the last 24 hours, and is priced at $1.92 trillion.
Ukraine requests dogecoin donations
Wednesday 2 March 2022 17:46 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Ukraine has opened up its cryptocurrency crowd-funding campaign to dogecoin donations.
Vice Prime Minister tweeted: “Dogecoin exceeded Russian ruble in value.”
The official dogecoin wallet has already received more than $35,000 worth of donations from more than 300 people. Among them was dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus, who tweeted: “The vice prime minister of Ukraine tweeting a $doge address and saying ‘We start to accept donations in meme coin. Now even meme can support our army and save lives from Russian invaders’ was not on my 2022 bingo card.”
@dogecoin exceeded Russian ruble in value. We start to accept donations in meme coin. Now even meme can support our army and save lives from Russian invaders. $DOGE owners of the world, @elonmusk, @BillyM2k, let's do it. Official $DOGE wallet: DS76K9uJJzQjCFvAbpPGtFerp1qkJoeLwL
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 2, 2022
Binance rejects Russian user ban
Wednesday 2 March 2022 14:00 , Anthony Cuthbertson
The boss of Binance has confirmed that the crypto exchange will not be imposing restrictions on ordinary Russians, with many in the country seeing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a lifeline against looming hyperinflation for the Ruble.
It follows a plea from Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov for all major exchanges to block addresses of Russian users, claiming: “It’s crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.”
Speaking to the BBC today, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said: ““We’re not against any people. We differentiate between the Russian politicians who start wars and the normal people. Many normal Russians do not agree with war.”
Ukraine confirms crypto ‘airdrop'
Wednesday 2 March 2022 13:13 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Ukraine’s official Twitter account has confirmed a cryptocurrency airdrop will take place tomorrow, though it is not quite clear exactly what this will involve.
The country has already raised more than $33 million worth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies since launching a fundraiser over the weekend. The funds will “contribute to the Ukrainian victory as well as support civil people”, says Ukraine’s vice prime minister.
We’ve reached out to Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation for more details about the airdrop event and will bring updates when we have them. You can also read more about it here:
Ukraine announces mysterious cryptocurrency ‘airdrop’
Bitcoin selling at $20,000 above market rate in Russia
Wednesday 2 March 2022 10:10 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Russians eager to transfer their rapidly devaluing Rubles into bitcoin are paying way above market rates, according to market watchers.
DefiPrime reported that BTC was selling on Russian exchanges for around $20,000 more than the current rate, suggesting some people in Russia have lost faith in the fiat currency and are expecting further drops in value. The Ruble is already down more than 20 per cent since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, while bitcoin is up by roughly the same amount.
Matreshka premium is a new kimchi premium 👀 $BTC trading at Russian p2p exchanges/fiat on-ramps with about $20K premium right now 😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/XnG3o4xcxG
— defiprime (@defiprime) March 1, 2022
Wednesday 2 March 2022 02:35 , Vishwam Sankaran
Bitcoin rises, cardano and avalanche fall
Bitcoin has grown by about 2 per cent in the last 24 hours and is currently priced close to $44,000.
The world’s leading cryptocurrency has grown by over 15 per cent in the last week.
Ethereum has also grown by over 10 per cent in the last week, and has risen marginally in the last 24 hours. It is valued close to the $2,900 mark.
Among other altcoins, terra has grown by over 4 per cent while solana has risen by about 2 per cent in the last day.
Meanwhile, memecoins dogecoin and its spinoff shiba inu have grown by 1 to 3 per cent.
The overall crypto market has risen by over 1 per cent in the last day and is valued at $1.93 trillion.
Bitcoin ‘decouples from stock markets'
Tuesday 1 March 2022 19:06 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin’s latest price rally has bucked its trend of following traditional financial markets, with crypto market analysts saying it has finally “decoupled” from stock markets. It has also managed to outperform gold, which is typically the go-to safe-haven asset during times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Here’s what Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at the UK based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, has to say:
Bitcoin rallied by an incredible 1 per cent yesterday, on a day that the S&P 500 was down by 0.2 per cent. We have seen crypto be correlated closely to the US stock market for months, but bitcoin is showing signs of decoupling from this correlation in the short term.
Bitcoin is being heavily bid due in part to the narrative of being a permissionless and censorship-resistant way of transferring value, as it has been used during the crisis in Ukraine as well as political unrest in Canada.
It is also fascinating that, after a week into geopolitical uncertainty, bitcoin is outperforming gold, which is known as a safe-haven asset.
Marcus Sotiriou, GlobalBlock
Bitcoin price surges past $44,000
Tuesday 1 March 2022 18:40 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin’s price surge, which saw it briefly rise above $44,500 earlier this afternoon, is finally showing signs of slowing down.
It is back down to around $43,500 but is still up nearly $10,000 over the last five days and remains close to returning to January levels.
Ethereum (ETH) also saw strong gains on Tuesday, and appears close to breaking back above $3,00. Meanwhile Cardano (ADA) is steadily climbing back towards the $1 mark.
How bitcoin stacks up against fiat currencies
Tuesday 1 March 2022 10:46 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Here is where bitcoin ranks compared to fiat currencies around the world after its latest price surge, according to data gathered by CoinMarketCap.
This list doesn’t typically change much, however Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen the Ruble slide significantly over the last week, losing more than 20 per cent of its value.
Bitcoin’s true value on ‘full display'
Tuesday 1 March 2022 10:09 , Anthony Cuthbertson
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is back tweeting about bitcoin, saying that “the intrinsic value of bitcoin is now in full display on the whole world”.
The dramatic devaluation of the Russian Ruble has seen bitcoin overtake the fiat currency, while also demonstrating its worth as a store of value.
The intrinsic value of #Bitcoin is now in full display on the whole world.
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) March 1, 2022
Bitcoin price surge continues
Tuesday 1 March 2022 09:51 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin has continued to see price gains overnight, pushing it above $43,000 for the first time since mid February.
The 13 per cent increase over the last 24 hours has been mirrored by other leading cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Terra (LUNA), which all rose by between 10 and 20 per cent.
The combined gains have pushed the overall crypto market back towards $2 trillion, having seen nearly $400 billion added to it over the last seven days.
Here’s a snapshot of the market this morning, courtesy of CoinMarketCap. There’s a lot of green.
BREAKING: Bitcoin overtakes Russian Ruble after price surge
Monday 28 February 2022 16:44 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin now has a market cap greater than the Russian Ruble after a sudden price surge coincided with a massive crash for Russia’s currency.
We’ll have more analysis and comment on that shortly but for now you can read more about it here.
Bitcoin overtakes Russian Ruble
Bitcoin a ‘safe haven during turbulent times'
Monday 28 February 2022 15:46 , Anthony Cuthbertson
One of the reasons for the Russian crypto exchange going offline could be increased traffic as Russians rush to exchange their Rubles for cryptocurrency as the fiat currency crashes under severe economic sanctions.
For some commentators, this is once again proof that it serves not just as a way to send donations across borders, but also a store of value when traditional currencies collapse. We’ve heard from Paolo Ardoino, CTO of BitFinex.
In these uncertain times, we have seen an uptick in the utility of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in raising funds for legitimate civilian organisations that are helping people who are displaced or in danger. That is the beauty of this technology. The borderless and censorship-proof nature of bitcoin allows donors to bypass traditional financial institutions that could ordinarily block payments to these organisations.
It goes without saying the defining characteristics of bitcoin allows it to act as a safe haven during turbulent times.
Paolo Ardoino, BitFinex
Bitcoin donations to Ukraine top $20m
Monday 28 February 2022 14:21 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Cryptocurrency donations to Ukraine’s war effort have now reached $20.9 million, according to analysts.
On-chain data reviewed by Elliptic reveals that a flood of donations on Monday saw the sum double in a matter of hours.
The bitcoin address shared by Ukraine’s government has so far received close to 7,000 donations, while other fundraising campaigns have raised millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
“One NGO received a single bitcoin donation worth $3 million,” Elliptic noted.
Crypto exchange in Russia down
Monday 28 February 2022 13:48 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Russian cryptocurrency exchange BestChange appears to be down, with a faction of the online hacktivist group Anonymous claiming responsibility for it.
Prominent Anonymous Twitter account @AnonOpsSE claimed that Russians were attempting to convert Rubles to cryptocurrency via the exchange in respnse to the Russian currency collapsing.
“That not gonna happen,” the account tweeted, alongside a screenshot of the exchange being down.
Because of Rubles is going to SHIT and everyone in Russia is trying to Rubles convert to crypto via https://t.co/PDOut9H7kE
And that not gonna happen!#OpRussia #Anonymous pic.twitter.com/pfKHLqaSYS— Anonymous Operations (@AnonOpsSE) February 28, 2022
Hello and welcome...
Monday 28 February 2022 13:39 , Anthony Cuthbertson
to The Independent’s live coverage of the crypto market.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest news, analysis and expert price predictions for bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) and other leading cryptocurrencies.
