Cryptocurrencies appreciate as exchanges refuse to freeze accounts of Russian nationals
Cryptocurrencies have responded positively to the news that the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against the Russian central bank. These prohibit Americans from conducting business with the central bank and freezing their assets within the USA. Sanctions also affect the Russian Federation's National Wealth Fund and its Ministry of Finance. These measures exert pressure on the Russian economy. These are in addition to the sanctions announced over the weekend that aim to prevent the Russian central bank from deploying international reserves to counter the imposed sanctions.
Over the last week, the RUB has depreciated by 26.94%, adding to the Russian Federation's headwinds. However, transactions on centralised bitcoin exchanges in the Russian ruble and Ukrainian hryvnia have surged to levels not seen in months.
Moreover, exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken have declined a Ukrainian request to suspend the account of Russians, maintaining that funds won't be frozen without legal requirements to do so. This announcement has resulted in BTCUSD appreciating by 14.84% and Ethereum by 10.22%.
The charts below show the weekly time frames of both BTCUSD and ETHUSD. Each has charted a higher trough, but a higher peak is needed to fulfill an uptrend's requirements. To this end, we do note that each stochastic has turned up from below 20 (black ellipses). The bullish momentum may be mounting if they continue upwards and cross over their respective 50 levels.
Featured Image by A M Hasan Nasim from Pixabay
Reference: cnbc.com
Russell Shor
Senior Market Specialist
Russell Shor joined FXCM in October 2017 as a Senior Market Specialist. He is a certified FMVA® and has an Honours Degree in Economics from the University of South Africa. Russell is a full member of the Society of Technical Analysts in the United Kingdom. With over 20 years of financial markets experience, his analysis is of a high standard and quality.
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