Cryptocurrency

Welcome to The Daily Forkast, March 1st, 2022, presented by Angie Lau. For the latest in blockchain & crypto news. On today's show: 00:00 Coming up 00:50 Crypto bounces back as sanctions bite 02:20 USDT-RUB trading volume spikes with Russian financial stability shaken 03:54 Ukraine DAO supports military efforts from civilians --- First up, sanctions on Russia have prompted a resurgence in the crypto market. Amid a sea of green in the crypto top 10, Bitcoin was up over 15 percent early Tuesday morning Asia time. While bitcoin has since fallen back slightly to trade at US$43,466, it had left over US$2000, crossing the US$44,000 dollar mark and a 10 minute window from 6:30am Hong Kong time on Tuesday. That move coincided with historically neutral Switzerland's announcement that would impose sanctions in coordination with the European Union, and it's not the only traditionally neutral country to consider such a move. In Asia, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also on the case. One expert told Forkast he's now keeping watch to see if calls to restrict Russians from accessing crypto exchanges are heeded. The expert says in the meantime, Russians are determined to get their cash out. While the uncertainty caused by Russia's invasion has also prompted a dovish reassessment of the Federal Reserve's hiking cycle, which is proving supportive for digital assets. Terra was the biggest gainer in that crypto top 10, overtaking Cardano and Solana to take seventh position based on market cap. It was up 22 percent Tuesday morning in Asia. With the sanctions piling on, local financial stability in Russia has been shaken. Monday saw the ruble plunge by about 30 percent against the U.S. dollar, while trading volume of the Bitcoin-ruble pair has surged. The rubles value slumped amid the waves of sanctions, prompting Russia's central bank to double interest rates and close the stock exchange on Monday in an attempt to stabilize its financial markets. President Putin has since ordered a ban on residents transferring money outside of the country effective from Tuesday, and concerns over such moves have seen trading volume spike, according to data from Keiko. Trading volume for the bitcoin ruble pair surged to over RUB3 billion in the past few days, while trading volume for the USDT-ruble pair spiked to a 10 month high. One expert told Forkast that with the economy suffering, investors will be looking for any options open to them. The general tenant is just get out of it. So anything you can get in, whether it's Bitcoin, whether it's property, whether it's any form of real asset, you know, buyer, seller of wine or something, you need to preserve the value of your money and that's going to be a very different thing. Harris says that with a severe and still developing sanctions situation, the market will likely take a few days to assess where the ruble is headed and reprice accordingly. Meanwhile, Crypto is playing another crucial role on the ground in Ukraine. Trippy Labs has created Ukraine DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that is working to support Ukrainian civilians who have joined military efforts. Trippy Labs told Forkast that all funds - 100 percent of it - will go to the initiative, "Come Back Alive" and used to distribute food and medical supplies to local efforts to help residents under siege. Why a DAO? The team said simply this We don't have time for traditional means of fundraising, and crypto has already proven to be the most efficient tool to offer immediate help. As the humanitarian crisis unfolds in Eastern Europe. Sanctions from the West has raised questions about Russia's economic defenses unraveling. How real is that and what impact could it have on crypto systems in a state where over a tenth of the people own crypto assets? We've got Kelvin Lam here, CEO of Lithium Finance, joining us right now with the DeFi download to talk all of this and more. Angie Lau: Yep, really important story. Really important story. So we really appreciate you being here. We've got NATO and the West, both imposing sanctions on the Russian state and billionaires backing Vladimir Putin. So we know this. But will these penalties really be able to work on assets held in crypto and those held or traded on decentralized exchanges? Kelvin Lam: So the first typek of these sanctions prohibit primarily banks and financial institutions from facilitating transactions, as well as dealing in capital markets in relation to major Russian banks and corporates. --- #Crypto #Blockchain #BlockchainTechnology #DigitalAssets #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #Ukraine #Russia #Sanction #USDT #Finance #UkraineDAO #Ruble #Fundraising #Bitcoin