[2022-02-26] Putin’s attack triples Ukrainian crypto exchange’s trading volume

[bbc.reporter]

A time of crisis is sometimes the best time to have an introduction with bitcoin, I reckon and it appears that the volume in this Ukrainian exchange might only increase the longer this war continues. It is also the best time to convert the Ukrainian currency to bitcoin because no one can be certain how long can it remain to be accepted. Who knows what Russia might do to the Ukrainian hryvnia.



Trading volume in Ukrainian crypto exchange Kuna has more than tripled by Friday since Russia invaded the Eastern European nation, according to CoinGecko data.

The 24-hour trading volume at Kuna was at around US$1.5 million on Thursday morning Asia time, but now sits just under US$5 million, as of press time.

Bitcoin is currently trading at a 7% premium at the Ukrainian exchange, indicating local demand outpacing available supply since the attacks.

Read in full https://forkast.news/headlines/putin-attack-ukraine-exchange-trade/

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[o_e_l_e_o]

There are reports of long queues at banks and ATMs not only in Ukraine but also in Russia, as the latter is progressively sanctioned and cut off from the Western financial world. No surprise really that innocent citizens who are caught up in this insane tragedy would be looking to protect their wealth, not only against hyperinflation and devaluation which we will likely see, but also against government confiscation and seizure.

I hope people are actually removing their coins from the exchanges, rather than just trading on them though. If unfortunately Russia are victorious in their unwarranted aggression against Ukraine, then any coins left in the control of third parties will be at risk of seizure.

[bbc.reporter]

@o_e_l_e_o. I agree especially for those people who are in Russia. It appears the government of Ukraine, through the ministry of digital transformation has formally asked 8 exchanges to freeze the accounts of users from Russia. I am not certain how pressured those exchanges might be, however. I am following the news on this very closely.

Also, the treasury department of the United States has also begun something hehe. I am not quite certain if this is regulation or a campaign against Russian cryptocoin users because how can they enforce this outside of centralized entry and exit points similar to exchanges.



The U.S. government is warning crypto exchanges not to facilitate transactions for individuals and entities newly added to its sanctions list.

The Treasury Department published new regulations banning U.S. persons from providing any support to certain Russian oligarchs and entities as part of an ongoing effort to sanction Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, with the rules taking effect on March 1.

“All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in … deceptive or structured transactions or dealings to circumvent any United States sanctions, including through the use of digital currencies or assets or the use of physical assets,” the document said.

Source https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/28/us-treasury-department-formally-adds-crypto-rules-to-russian-sanctions-guidance/

[davis196]

Russia tried to cut off the internet in Ukraine,but Elon Musk provided with his satellites,after the president of Ukraine asked him for help.I guess that there's no problem with the internet connection in Ukraine,so the Ukrainian cryptocurrency users can still use the crypto exchange platforms located there.
Perhaps the European Union and other western countries could provide financial support for the Ukrainian banking system,so the national currency of Ukraine could be saved from a severe devaluation.
All the Russians in the western sanctions list will most likely be blocked from using centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I am not certain how pressured those exchanges might be, however. I am following the news on this very closely.

Simply requesting that exchanges freeze accounts, which is the Ukrainian government have done so far, will achieve nothing. No exchange is going to voluntarily cut off a bunch of their users, and indeed, doing so might well be illegal when many of those users are entirely innocent. The Ukrainian government will need to follow the usual legal processes, which I understand they are in the process of doing, if they want this to happen.

Jesse Powell, the CEO of Kraken, made some good tweets about it: https://nitter.net/jespow/status/1498112741684363265

As he also says though, is that Russian (and Ukrainian, and indeed all) users should be aware that account freezes could be implemented at any time and without warning. You should be withdrawing your coins to your own wallet as soon as possible.

[Lucius]

No exchange is going to voluntarily cut off a bunch of their users, and indeed, doing so might well be illegal when many of those users are entirely innocent.

Of course, there would be collateral victims in the process of banning all Russian users, but if we want to stop the madman Putin and his butchers from destroying and killing innocent people, then there should be no exceptions - Russia should be completely isolated from the world. When it comes to the support of Russian citizens for their president, the data say that it amounts to as much as 69%, although we know that this data should be taken with great caution given who controls the media in that country.

[SFR10]

No exchange is going to voluntarily cut off a bunch of their users,

We already have a user who reported yesterday about "Bittrex freezing his/her account" and judging by the second email, it appears to be a temporary one ^[hopefully].

[bbc.reporter]

Jesse Powell, the CEO of Kraken, made some good tweets about it: https://nitter.net/jespow/status/1498112741684363265

As he also says though, is that Russian (and Ukrainian, and indeed all) users should be aware that account freezes could be implemented at any time and without warning. You should be withdrawing your coins to your own wallet as soon as possible.

It appears that Jesse Powell might also be admitting that if Kraken was pressured enough into compliance, he would have no other choice but to what was ordered by the regulators. I reckon users from Russia should begin looking for smaller exchanges that are not getting very much attention from news media and the government hehehe.

[Kakmakr]

We have also seen people converting their wealth into bitcoins to enable them to shift their wealth to other countries, without all the restrictions that are placed on that by Banks. We know Putin wants the companies to keep their capital in Russia, so restrictions will be placed on international money transfers.

Also, people fleeing from the Ukraine ..cannot move around with large amounts of cash...so it is safer to convert that money into bitcoins and then to access that money from another country, after they have relocated. 

[o_e_l_e_o]

It appears that Jesse Powell might also be admitting that if Kraken was pressured enough into compliance, he would have no other choice but to what was ordered by the regulators.

This is nothing new, and applies equally to every centralized exchange in existence. If governments or other regulators lean heavily enough on a centralized exchange, then their only options are either to comply with what they are being told to do, or be heavily fined or shutdown entirely. Given that all centralized exchanges are obviously going to take the path of least resistance which allows them to continue to maximize their profits, then they will all do whatever is demanded of them to be allowed to continue to function, whether that is to freeze individual accounts, seize coins entirely, or stop serving entire regions or countries.

At least Powell and Kraken are open an honest about it. Compare that to nonsense from places like Binance which just go on and on about how your funds are "safu".

I reckon users from Russia should begin looking for smaller exchanges that are not getting very much attention from news media and the government hehehe.

And then they run the risk of being scammed. I'm sure there are plenty of fake exchanges popping up which are looking to capitalize on Russian users trying to buy bitcoin in the midst of this crisis. The best option is for them is just to get their coins in to their own wallets as soon as possible.

[bbc.reporter]

@o_e_l_e_o. I reckon the small exchange that does not scam their users will certainly become one of the most trusted and also might become one of the big exchanges hehe. Being a big exchange will cause them to have compliance difficulty with regulators, however. A business tactic they can use is split their size into different smaller exchanges. I speculate Nitrogensports is doing this tactic through nitrobetting.eu.

[Kakmakr]

The only thing Kuna must worry about now.. is to triple their security...because Russia has some of the best hackers in the world and news like this will make them a huge target for these hackers.

Also, these people should shift their coins out of the Exchange and into cold storage. The exchange should only be used to convert their Fiat currency into bitcoins and then they will have to move these coins to safe external storage. 

[bbc.reporter]

@Kakmakr. Agreed, the Russian hackers and programmers are certainly some of the best in the world. We are witnessing this with Vitalik's invention Ethereum hehehe.

In any case, it also appears that the volume of the Russians who are trading their fiat currency for bitcoins is  increasing in Binance. I predict Binance will stop accepting the ruble not because of political pressure. Binance will stop because the ruble will become completely worthless.



With Russia becoming increasingly closed off to the financial world following its invasion of Ukraine, it appears Russian investors are becoming increasingly active in the cryptocurrency market.

Since Russia staged its invasion, average volumes of ruble pairs on crypto exchange Binance have surged, increasing to an average of $35.8 million per day compared to $11 million per day before the invasion began. The heightened activity represents one of the few places where Russians can move rubles.

Source https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/135888/ruble-trading-pair-volumes-surge-on-binance-after-russias-invasion-of-ukraine

[o_e_l_e_o]

In any case, it also appears that the volume of the Russians who are trading their fiat currency for bitcoins is  increasing in Binance.

Daily trading volume for the BTC/RUB pair in terms of BTC has been sitting around 4-5x higher than average for the past 10 days: https://nomics.com/exchanges/binance/markets/BTCRUB

I predict Binance will stop accepting the ruble not because of political pressure. Binance will stop because the ruble will become completely worthless.

As long as Russians are still using the ruble, Binance will still accept it. They don't care about the actual value of the ruble, all they care about is taking their cut and making a profit. Makes no difference to them if the ruble is worth 100 sats or 1 sat, they'll make the same amount of profit in trading fees.

Since Russia staged its invasion, average volumes of ruble pairs on crypto exchange Binance have surged, increasing to an average of $35.8 million per day compared to $11 million per day before the invasion began.

Better to measure the volume in BTC rather in USD, since the volume in USD will fluctuate wildly even if the volume in BTC doesn't change since RUB is devaluing so rapidly.

[Maestro75]

I hope people are actually removing their coins from the exchanges, rather than just trading on them though. If unfortunately Russia are victorious in their unwarranted aggression against Ukraine, then any coins left in the control of third parties will be at risk of seizure.

I fear this will be one of the irrational decisions Putin can take again as he is on a mission to cause anyone on his path sorrow and destruction. And if any of those exchanges are found to be among those supporting Ukraine according to this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5387875.msg59432169#msg59432169 then they already plotted their own downfall. Putin is more likely to see their actions as sabotage and conspiracy to frustrate his plan of subjecting Ukraine to humiliation.

[o_e_l_e_o]

And if any of those exchanges are found to be among those supporting Ukraine according to this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5387875.msg59432169#msg59432169 then they already plotted their own downfall.

Whether or not an exchange supports Ukraine is probably irrelevant to considering what actions Russia may take against it within their own borders. Putin has already placed limits on how much foreign currency Russian citizens are allowed to buy, has placed limits on how much foreign currency Russian citizens can leave the country with, and banned altogether forex transfers to outside Russia. I'm surprised he hasn't already started to pass laws and limitations on what crypto exchanges are allowed to do, but I would suggest all Russian citizens get everything they own off exchanges before they find it locked and inaccessible. If Putin does start to clamp down on exchanges, then I would expect him to clamp down on all exchanges as a means to stop Russians dumping the ruble, rather than selectively trying to punish ones which are supporting Ukraine.

[dansus021]

not to mention that ukraine crypto donation hit million dollar as you can see here Rekt NEws

~4400 ETH ($12.9M) and ~$4.5M in USDT has been sent on Ethereum

219 BTC (~$9.7M) via Bitcoin

396,000 DOT (~$7.4M) via Polkadot (with $5.8M from founder Gavin Wood)

~$1.2M on TRON (but Justin Sun still managed to embarrass himself)

so crypto will be choice for country when fiat not stable and crisis like war like this   

[cr1776]

I am somewhat surprised it is so little.  Of course the time to protect oneself and one's assets is well before something like an invasion or takeover by some authoritarian scoundrels, but even now a month ago it wasn't too late to protect oneself in Ukraine.  Really though, why aren't more people thinking about it?  Perhaps they are just trying to survive.

[amishmanish]

Economics of war at work. People have lost their homes, their jobs. They are scrouging for food and shelter. No money in pocket, and here crypto comes to their rescue. Like Iron man, Elon musk the poster boy of neo economic revoultion gives starlink to ukrainians. People make crypto their safehouse for their assets and here we are discussing their story.. It seems we got new stuff for  marvel comics

[sanjusajan]

It is very bad news because due to the war of ukrien and Russia the whole crypto market is being crashed and the Russia can't defect then they attack in the crypto of ukrien I think the problem will be solved soon