How the top 10 Cryptocurrencies Have Fared Since The Start of The Ukraine-Russian War
But how has the cryptocurrency world responded to the war? Are your coins and NFTs investment plunging or are they insular to the effects of the war? We look at how the top 10 Cryptocurrencies are faring presently compared to three weeks ago before the start of the war.
The Cryptocurrency Market
The cryptocurrency market has been in its usual volatile swing since the beginning of the year. The market was worth $2.3 trillion. Currently, the market is worth $2.1 trillion, down by 18% (as of the time of writing this article.)
On the contrary, since the start of the Ukraine-Russia war, the market has been on a steady growth after taking a plunge on the day of the war. At the beginning of the war, the crypto market was worth $1.5 trillion, plunging from $1.7trillion the day before. This initial deep showed at first, like every other market indices, that the crypto market wasn't insular to the war.
Fast forward more than a month later, the market has picked up by almost 40% despite the raging war. This resistance by the market shows the level of acceptance of cryptocurrencies. It is playing a huge role in the war as millions of dollars have been donated via bitcoin and other digital coins to Ukraine.
Top 10 Cryptocurrencies
The top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap are cumulatively worth over $1.7 trillion, this is 81% of the entire crypto market. The two dominant cryptos, Bitcoin and Ethereum are worth a combined 79% and are both the primary source of donations to Ukraine.
We look at how each of these 20 cryptocurrencies has fared since the beginning of the Ukraine- Russia war.
Bitcoin (BTC)
At the turn of 2022, Bitcoin had reached a price threshold of about $47k before dipping into a swath of red mist just before the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It had two massive dips a month between each other; the first one on the 24th of January and the second dip on the 24th of February (the start of the war).
The pioneering cryptocurrency saw a sharp increase of $38k to $44K within the last day of February and the first day of March. This sharp upturn coincided with the time some top news outlets were reporting that Ukraine has got donations worth more than $54 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
It reached its price threshold of $47k a few days ago (a month after the war) and has maintained price equilibrium since then.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum followed the same trajectory as bitcoin as the first major Altcoin reached a price threshold of about $3.8k before reaching its lowest price of about $2.2k. As you’ve guessed, its second-largest dip of about $2.3k happened at the start of the war.
Unlike bitcoin though, it never reached its price threshold of $3.8k, only attaining a price peak of $3.4k a few days ago since the start of the war (as at the time of writing this article)
Tether (USDT)
As you all know, Tether is a stablecoin backed by an equivalent amount of US dollars. This means the price movement of Tether will be very similar to the price movement of the Fiat US dollar during the period of chart analysis.
And as you can see from the chart above, Tether maintained a range of between -$0.0004 and +0.002 which translates to the currency’s lowest dip and highest price point respectively. The former happened at the turn of 2022 and later on the 11th of February.
Binance (BNB)
Compared to the first two cryptocurrencies earlier analyzed, Binance’s coin BNB achieved a price peak of $526 earlier at the turn of the year before slumping into a series of dips. Its first dip to $352 happened on the 1st of January. Its second dip to $342 happened two days later. And the coin’s steepest dip to $331 happened on the day the war started.
The coin has relatively recovered a month into the war but has not reached its price threshold of $526 earlier attained early in January.
The price analysis of the second stablecoin on the list isn’t much different from that of Tether due to its being a digital version of the US dollar. And like Tether, the price of USDC has ranged from $0.9999 to $1.0012, a price band of +/- 0.0013.
This goes to show the level of stability of these stablecoins and confirms the use case of providing a haven for crypto traders in times of volatility.
Solana (SOL)
One of the success stories of last year, Solana has seen its price dip from a high attained 10 months ago. But the coin’s price peak of $173 this year was attained on the 3rd of January with several dips after. The lowest of those dips (at $77.7) happened on the first day of the war.
The coin has since recovered to a price point of $128, a drop of %26 from its highest peak at the time of writing this article.
Ripple (XRP)
XRP remains one of the few coins on the list that has seen its highest price peak this year after the war. But its steepest price dip of $0.56 happened on the same day (24th of January) major cryptocurrencies had their steepest price slump.
As with the case with all the coins on this list, XRP experienced a steep dip on the day of the war. So far, it’s currently holding off on its major price threshold of $0.84.
Terra (LUNA)
Like other coins, LUNA had one of its dips on the day the war started but like XRP, saw its highest price peak (and the highest price point since the launch of the coin) at $110 a month and some days after.
There’s a wide price chasm between the 22nd of January ($57.6) and the day of the war ($52.6). At the moment, the coin is almost $20 higher than its price threshold.
Cardano ADA
Cardano has failed to recover ever since it experienced its highest price peak of $1.63 this year in the middle of January. The Proof of Stake blockchain platform has failed to reach its resistance price value of $1.32 it attained at the turn of the year. The coin had its steepest dip of $0.76 on the day the war began.
The price of the coin is currently trending at $1.18, an 11% dip from the price resistance but a 55% increase since the start of the war.
Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche started the year on a price resistance of $108 and took an avalanche-like (for want of a better pun) fall to a price point of $56 which remains the lowest price point to date. The coin maintained its dip with slight ups and downs for another three weeks and rose to a high of $98 before having its second major dip of $66 on the day the war started.
At the moment, the current price point for AVAX is trending at $101, an increase of 53% from the price point at the start of the war but still about 7% below the price threshold.
Conclusion
The market analysis breakdown above has shown that the cryptocurrency market reacted negatively to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the first few days but took an upward trajectory as the war progressed. It also showed a real link between the price of some cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, and its use by the Ukrainian government in prosecuting the war.
This analysis has somewhat proven the relative resistance of the crypto market to world issues that aren’t directly linked.