Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Pull Back Again As Russia-Ukraine Crisis Intensifies, Appetite For Risk Shrinks
[Benzinga]
Major coins dropped Wednesday evening as the geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe worsened. The global cryptocurrency market cap fell 2.9% to $1.8 trillion at press time.
Price Performance Of Major Coins
| COIN | 24-HOUR | 7-DAY | PRICE |
| Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) | -3.5% | -16.2% | $36,895.50 |
| Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) | -2.4% | -17.8% | $2,569.59 |
| Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) | -3.8% | -19.7% | $0.13 |
Top 24-Hour Gainers (Data via CoinGecko)
| CRYPTOCURRENCY | 24-HOUR % CHANGE (+/-) | PRICE |
| Terra (LUNA) | +5.7% | $58.64 |
| Waves (WAVES) | +5.5% | $9.55 |
| Juno (JUNO) | +4.9% | $30.52 |
Why It Matters: Separatist leaders in Ukraine asked for Russian help on Wednesday, while Kyiv began drafting its citizens for compulsory military service and announced a state of emergency, according to a report from Reuters.
Investors stayed away from risk assets on Wednesday. The S&P 500 index closed 1.8% lower at 4,225.50, while the NASDAQ ended the day 2.6% lower at 13,037.49.
The yield on benchmark 10-year treasuries rose 3.8 basis points to 1.986% on Wednesday evening, according to a CNBC report.
On an intraday basis, Bitcoin moved between $36,889.77 and $39,231.52, while Ethereum ranged between $2,570.43 and $2,752.24, according to CoinGecko data.
Analysts were impressed by the stability seen in cryptocurrencies compared with the stock markets during the course of the trading day.
Amsterdam-based cryptocurrency trader Michaël van de Poppe tweeted that Bitcoin was doing relatively well.
Edward Moya, a senior market analyst with OANDA, said that Bitcoin had held up nicely as the crisis between Russia and Ukraine intensified.
“Many crypto investors have been humbled by the last crash and while they will remain patient and will wait for their existing positions to turn positive, they are hesitant to increase holdings given the tremendous uncertainty for risky assets.”
Moya said he sees “decent resistance” from the $40,000 level as the geopolitical crisis will prevent risk assets from “mustering up much of a rally.”
Evidence of de-risking can be observed on-chain, according to an analyst on CryptoQuant, a community-driven analytics platform.
The analyst pointed to a spike in USD Coin (USDC) reserves, which they said was a confirmation about movement into stablecoins.
By Shivdeep Dhaliwal