Market Wrap - Bitcoin and Altcoins Dip With Russia, Ukraine Uncertainty

2/20/22, 1:19 PM Market Wrap: Bitcoin and Altcoins Dip with Russia, Ukraine Uncertainty
Bitcoin $38,384.97 -4.14% Ethereum $2,657.81 -3.44% XRP $0.785121 -6.56% Solana $90.83
Crypto Prices Top Assets
Markets
Market Wrap: Bitcoin and Altcoins Dip Amid Russia,

Ukraine Uncertainty
BTC is down 5% over the past week as investors reduce their exposure to risk.
By Damanick Dantes
Feb 18, 2022 at 5:21 p.m. ‧

Updated Feb 18, 2022 at 5:25 p.m.
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/02/18/market-wrap-bitcoin-and-altcoins-dip-amid-russia-ukraine-uncertainty/ 1/9
Ukraine flag (Max Kukurudziak/Unsplash)
Cryptocurrencies and stocks declined on Friday as traders reacted to

geopolitical risk.
U.S. officials continue to warn Russia could attack Ukraine within the next few
days, adding that prospects for averting a war are very dim. Meanwhile, Russia
denies any plans to invade Ukraine and described global concerns as
"hysteria."
Bitcoin (BTC) was down 2% over the past 24 hours, and briefly dipped below
$40,000 for the first time in two weeks. Meanwhile, alternative
cryptocurrencies (altcoins) such as ether (ETH) and solana (SOL) declined as
much as 4% over the past 24 hours.
"Crypto performance in the last week shows us that there’s very little room for
complacency regarding any of the major themes impacting this market," David
Duong head of research at Coinbase Institutional wrote in a Friday newsletter
Duong, head of research at Coinbase Institutional, wrote in a Friday newsletter.
"Open conflict could potentially affect bitcoin hashrates, which could
exacerbate the knee-jerk market reaction weaker for high-beta risk assets like
crypto."
Earlier this month, Coinbase tweeted that it saw a net inflow into stablecoins (a
crypto reserve asset) totaling $3.5 billion between November 2021 and January
2022 as market volatility picked up. That signaled a flight to safety among
traders on the Coinbase exchange. Still, the company does not expect a repeat
of the 2018 bear market.
For now, technicals are mostly bearish for bitcoin. There are initial signs of
downside exhaustion on the BTC daily chart, which suggests the pullback
could stabilize between the $30,000-$40,000 support zone.
Latest prices
● Bitcoin (BTC): $40093, −2.37%
● Ether (ETH): $2797, −4.16%
● S&P 500 daily close: $4349, −0.71%
● Gold: $1898 per troy ounce, −0.16%
● Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 1.93%
Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin
Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information
about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.
The recent decline in the 10-year Treasury yield could be a short-term positive
for speculative assets such as equities and cryptocurrencies.
"We remain cyclically bearish on bonds, although yields could soon pause;
conditions are becoming technically stretched and U.S. rate expectations have
already ratcheted higher," MRB Partners wrote in a research note this week.
"However, any pause, like the dip in yields last year, will not mark the end of the
cyclical rise in yields "
cyclical rise in yields.
Bitcoin's correlation with stocks remains elevated over the short term, which
means price jumps could be temporary if macroeconomic and geopolitical
headwinds continue to linger.
So far this month, bitcoin trading volumes across major spot exchanges remain
low relative to prior peaks. An increase in trading activity is expected,
especially if sharp price swings occur.
Bitcoin trading volume (CryptoCompare)
Altcoin roundup
Skale Launches $100M Ecosystem Fund: Skale, a multi-chain Ethereum-
scaling system, announced a $100 million ecosystem program to incentivize
developers to build on its platform. Launched in 2018, Skale is a
decentralized network of blockchains built natively on Ethereum, with a focus
on running decentralized applications with speed and low cost. Skale
Network's SKALE token is up 45% from its cycle low of $0.10 on Jan. 22. Still,
the token is 88% below a peak of $1.20 reached in March 2021. Read more
here.
Hackers behind AscendEX breach move $1.5M ETH to Uniswap: Funds

stolen during December’s hack of AscendEX have begun moving to
decentralized exchange Uniswap, according to on-chain data first spotted by
security research house PeckShield. In December, hackers stole $77 million
from AscendEX, mostly in ether, Binance Smart Chain's token and MATIC.
Read more here.
NFT slowdown: "NFT volume has imploded recently, down 75% from the
start of the year to around $200 million," Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at the
U.K.-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, wrote in a Friday email. "Since
the mania at the start of the year hype has dropped off significantly, but we
have seen this happen many times in the NFT space." Non-fungible token
platform tokens such as GALA, RARE and ENJ are down as much as 90%
from their all-time highs.
Relevant news
Court Orders Freeze of Canadian 'Freedom Convoy' Crypto Fundraising
US Agencies Seized Around $30M of Crypto Related to NetWalker

Ransomware Last Year
State Lawmakers in Illinois, Georgia Propose Tax Incentives for Bitcoin

Miners
Lehman Brothers Bargain Hunter Bob Diamond Now Paying Up for Crypto
Inside IBM’s Fast-Growing Crypto Custody Play
China Casts Long Shadow Over Hong Kong's Once-Vibrant Crypto Industry
Other markets
Digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day lower.
There are no gainers in CoinDesk 20 today.
Largest losers:
Asset Ticker Returns Sector
Smart Contract
Polygon MATIC −4.7%
Platform
Smart Contract
Ethereum ETH −4.2%
Platform
Smart Contract
Solana SOL −4.0%
Platform
Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard
(DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive,
and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a
ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.
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that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an
independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to
DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not
allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
Damanick Dantes
Damanick is a crypto market analyst at CoinDesk where he writes the

daily Market Wrap and provides technical analysis. He is a Chartered
Market Technician designation holder and member of the CMT
Association. Damanick is also an equity/fixed income portfolio manager
and does not invest in digital assets.
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2/20/22, 1:19 PM Market Wrap: Bitcoin and Altcoins Dip with Russia, Ukraine Uncertainty

Crypto Prices Top Assets

Market Wrap: Bitcoin and Altcoins Dip Amid Russia,

Feb 18, 2022 at 5:21 p.m. ‧

Ukraine flag (Max Kukurudziak/Unsplash)

Cryptocurrencies and stocks declined on Friday as traders reacted to

Bitcoin trading volume (CryptoCompare)

Hackers behind AscendEX breach move $1.5M ETH to Uniswap: Funds

US Agencies Seized Around $30M of Crypto Related to NetWalker

State Lawmakers in Illinois, Georgia Propose Tax Incentives for Bitcoin

There are no gainers in CoinDesk 20 today.

Damanick is a crypto market analyst at CoinDesk where he writes the

Subscribe to First Mover our daily newsletter about markets

BlackRock Has Entered the Chat

3 The Breakdown, With NLW

How Bitcoin Helps Marginalized Communities Build Generational

OpenSea Investigating ‘Exploit Rumors’ as Users Complain of

About Stay Updated

Get In Touch The Fine Print

Advertise Ethics Policy

@2021 CoinDesk English

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