The world received in shock the news of Russia’s armed forces attack on some parts of Ukraine. In response, the value of assets in the crypto and financial markets took a strong hit.
After several months of denying any military attack on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, has revealed that the Russian military will carry out an operation in Ukraine. This particular announcement from the leader has crashed the crypto market.
Ukraine is Under Siege
Through the borders Russia shares with Belarus, the Russian military has penetrated the North and South of Ukraine. While some cities of Ukraine have remained relatively calm and peaceful, reports have proved that some other cities in the north and south of Ukraine are under severe attack by the Russian military.
Ukraine was first attacked by the armed forces of the Russian federation in 2014. The attack was caused by Russia’s concerns as Ukraine planned to align with NATO and the US; an international alignment Russia’s Ministry of Defense described as an “unnecessary affiliation”.
On Thursday, Putin announced that the Russian armed forces would carry out a military operation in the Donbas region of Ukraine. He requested the Kyiv forces to surrender if the imminent attack was to be aborted. In defiance of the call to submit, the Russian side reportedly bombed some sites in Ukraine.
The Crypto Community’s Response to the Attack
The value of Bitcoin crashed below USD$35k (-8.2%), while Ethereum’s $ETH traded below USD$2.5K (-11.89%). The downtrend of the two listed coins above adversely affected the prices and value of other prominent coins like Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Binance Coin (BNB), etc.
Though saddened by the fall of the value of cryptocurrencies, the community’s response to the crisis was not centered on the effects the attack has on the bearish coins but on the people of Ukraine. According to the founder of Bitbns, Gaurav Dahake, the possibility of an escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the pressures from leading world powers have tremendously increased trade volatility in the crypto markets. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, has sympathized with the people of Ukraine while stressing that the resolution of Putin to shun all peace talks concerning attacking Ukraine may not turn out well for the global financial market.
In a statement credited to Sherpa, he said that the actual casualties were the humans involved and not the bearish cryptocurrencies. He added that the dwindling financial markets could not be prioritized, hence the need to pray for the safety of the citizens and residents of Ukraine.
Russia is a global energy provider, and at the break-out of the crisis, especially with its neighbors, this could lead to a worldwide shortage of energy products. To ease the situation, the US and its allies, including NATO, have since condemned the attacks on Ukraine by Russia. The US has threatened to impose Putin’s Russian with economic and political sanctions.