At the start of the week, Bitcoin broke above the $40,000 mark again, with the war in Ukraine becoming perhaps the first “big test case” for BTC. Traditional markets and cryptocurrencies pared losses when the Moscow Stock Exchange decided not to open. We look at the performance of the market in February and look at the list of currencies that have moved higher and lower since the start of the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, GRIID claimed that Intel's BMZ2 Bitcoin miners will improve gross profit by 130% over its rival Antminer S19 Pro.
And the war is raging. The US and Europe have vowed to target Russian attempts to use cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions, some Russian banks have been banned from SWIFT and the Central Bank may be the next target, potentially making rubles 'nearly worthless', but the Central bank says its SWIFT alternative is ready, crypto donations approached €20 million earlier this week, then €54 million midweek, and after Polkadot El Salvador leader came under fire for his donation proposal Ukraine's DOT, Ukraine added more crypto options for donations, while the government also confirmed an airdrop, but quickly canceled it, saying it would issue NFTs instead. remained silent about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In addition, ordinary Russians were increasingly beginning to feel the impact of Western sanctions, spending their dwindling ruble in an effort to get rid of it, and cryptocurrency buyers facing huge premiums amid the economic crisis in this country. Industry observers have argued that the possible consequences of the war could be assessed in the cryptocurrency market and that there have been massive increases in cryptocurrency trading volumes using the Ukrainian fiat currency. Kraken's CEO said crypto exchanges might be needed to freeze the accounts of his Russian clients, while Coinbase's CEO said Russian oligarchs are unlikely to use crypto to circumvent sanctions.
Animoca banned Russian users, while Revolut's CEO condemned the war and announced that donations would be matched. While all this was happening, some speculators were betting on the outcome of the war.
Eyes also turned to the US Congress as the Fed chair braced for his first comments since the start of the war, saying they would "proceed with caution" with plans to raise interest rates despite of the war, the South Korean Constitutional Court upheld a law banning gamblers. from buying and selling cryptocurrencies and NFTs, and Britain's advertising watchdog banned Floki Inu London's ad campaign. Meanwhile, Heather Morgan, who allegedly attempted to launder stolen BTC from Bitfinex, is speaking with authorities about a potential "plea deal."
Let's go to the joke.