Early on February 22, cryptocurrency prices fell due to the influence of the Russia-Ukraine issue. The United States and Europe have vowed penalties in response to Russia’s continuous aggression against Ukraine, putting a pall over global markets.
As of 8.55 a.m., Bitcoin’s price was Rs 29.63 lakh, down 4.35 percent in the last 24 hours. Ethereum has fallen 4.81 percent to Rs 2.05 lakh.
Cardano (Rs 67.97) and XRP (Rs 55.72) are the cryptocurrency’s biggest losers, down 11.31 percent and 11.16 percent, respectively.Following them are Binance Coin (Rs 28,500, down 7.65%), Dogecoin (Rs 10.21, down 7.43%), and Polkadot (Rs 1,286, down 6.91%).
Following an apparently cautious response to President Vladimir Putin’s order to deploy Russian forces in two Kremlin-backed separatist areas of Ukraine, the US announced on February 22 that it would impose penalties on Moscow.
“In response to Moscow’s decisions and actions today, we intend to announce fresh sanctions against Russia tomorrow. For that announcement, we’re coordinating with friends and partners. ” According to AFP, a White House spokeswoman said
This comes as the UN Security Council’s emergency discussion on the Ukraine issue is about to begin. Russia, which presently holds the Council presidency, will chair the meeting.
Policy ambiguity
Meanwhile, Russia’s perplexing crypto policy contributed to the downturn.
On February 21, the country’s finance ministry said it would consider ideas from the country’s central bank on cryptocurrencies as long as they did not contradict its own policy, paving the way for laws controlling digital assets.
The finance ministry filed legislative suggestions to the government on February 18 that conflicted with the central bank’s call for a blanket ban, escalating a simmering disagreement over cryptocurrency regulation in Russia.
Due to the threat that digital currencies represent to financial stability, the Bank of Russia has advocated prohibiting cryptocurrency trade and mining. The finance ministry, on the other hand, wants legislation that controls cryptocurrencies and allows them to be used as an investment tool but not as a currency.
The draught legislation proposed by the finance ministry intends to establish a legal market for digital currencies.
One proposal is to require client identification for transactions involving the purchase or sale of bitcoin, which might jeopardise one of the cryptocurrency’s main selling qualities: anonymity.
Other ideas include requiring international cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain a licence in Russia and implementing financial literacy tests to determine how much money individuals are allowed to invest.
Citizens who pass the tests will be able to invest up to 600,000 roubles ($7,853) per year in digital currencies, according to the finance ministry. Those that fail would be limited to an annual investment of 50,000 roubles.
The central bank also opposes cryptocurrency mining, in which powerful computers compete to solve complicated mathematical riddles against others connected to a global network.
The bank has raised concerns about inefficient energy use and mining’s environmental impact, while the finance ministry prefers to allow mining on a taxation basis.
