Bankman-Fried noted that Bitcoin's price has tumbled alongside stocks, arguing that "if the world gets shittier, people have less free cash," and that they are effectively "selling BTC--along with stocks, etc.--to pay for war."
He added that said that the situation is "likely destabilizing" for Eastern European currencies and their financial systems, suggesting that they might look to alternative options. "If you were in Ukraine right now, where would you trust your money?" he added.
But SBF, as he's popularly known, stressed that the financial impact of the conflict shouldn't overshadow what's happening in real life. War is “really bad for the world,” he said. “Fuck all this price stuff. Go outside and do something nice for someone.”
2) NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
And more importantly, there might be war. That's really bad for the world. Fuck all this price stuff. Go outside and do something nice for someone.
-----
Seriously, do something nice. The world could use it.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also took to Twitter in his native Russian language to condemn the invasion.
"Very upset by Putin's decision to abandon the possibility of a peaceful solution to the dispute with Ukraine and go to war instead," wrote Buterin, stressing that Russia's invasion of Ukraine "is a crime against both the Ukrainian and Russian people."
Очень расстроен решением Путина отказаться от возможности мирного решения спора с Украиной и вместо этого начать войну. Это преступление против украинского и русского народа.
Хочу желать всем безопасности, хотя знаю, что не какой безопасности не будет.
“Glory to Ukraine!” Buterin added, referring to Ukraine’s historical national salute and the official greeting of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Russian president Vladimir Putin went live on national TV around 4am local time to announce a military operation against Ukraine, claiming that the action was necessary to “defend” the Russian-speaking people living in the country.
The price of Bitcoin fell sharply after Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to announced a "special military operation" to complete the "demilitarization" of Ukraine.
All signs now point to an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, and there are media reports of explosions in the capital of Kyiv.
While Ukrainians and world citizens have more pressing concerns than the price of cryptocurrency at the moment, markets are a way of quantifying anxieties, given Russia's importance to th...
Immediately after Putin's appearance on TV, explosions were reported to have been heard in Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, including the major cities of Kharkiv, Odesa, and Dnipro, as well as the city of Mariupol, situated right on the line of contact with Russia-backed separatist forces.
Ukraine-based crypto media faces challenges
Russian-language crypto news outlets with personnel in Ukraine have been directly affected by the invasion. ForkLog, which has been covering the industry news since 2015, has a number of team members based in Ukraine.
“A significant part of our team are Ukraine nationals, so now we are engaged in ensuring the safety of our employees. This may affect the stability of our operations,” ForkLog CEO Anatoly Kaplan said in a statement on Thursday.
“We call for an end to the bloodshed - this is unacceptable in the 21st century. Say No to war,” he added.
Nick Schteringard, ForkLog’s editor-in-chief, explained that several key members of the team are currently in the war zone and face a direct threat to their lives. "All this is like some Hollywood movie," he said. "It’s absolutely clear that this man [Putin] is out of his head and has to be stopped. First of all, it’s up to those people living in Russia to go out and protest [against the war]."
Crypto markets plummet
The news of Russia's military action against Ukraine has seen cryptocurrency prices nosedive alongside traditional financial markets.
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 8% over the past 24 hours, and is currently trading at just over $35,000.
Many major digital assets, including Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Solana, and Cardano, have all posted double-digit losses.
“I don’t quite understand people who are now taking to Twitter to post about how the war brings an opportunity to buy the dip,” Schteringard told Decrypt, adding that people shouldn't be focusing on crypto prices when people's lives are at stake. "What Bitcoin, what stocks, just wake up, the war is at your doors!"
As tensions on Ukraine's border continue to mount, Ukrainian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are seeing a sharp rise in Bitcoin donations, according to a new report by blockchain analytics company Elliptic.
These aren't charities to fight poverty or spread social justice. We're talking about pro-Ukrainian hacktivists and military organizations.
Elliptic says it amounts to NGOs and other groups using cryptocurrency to "crowdfund war."
Russia has amassed 100,000 to 130,000 troops on its bord...
As Decryptreported earlier this month, Ukrainian NGOs providing financial assistance to the nation’s military forces are seeing a growing number of donations made in cryptocurrency.
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Russia-Ukraine Conflict
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. In this collection, we explore how cryptocurrency and blockchain are figuring into the conflict.
In response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury Department today announced the addition of 22 individuals and two entities tied to the Russian government to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.
The list includes entities that OFAC says supported Russia's invasion, including Task Force Rusich, an alleged neo-Nazi paramilitary group that the agency says participated in combat alongside Russia's military in Ukraine.
"Today's action is being taken in...
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister, shared yesterday how $54 million of the country’s crypto donations have been spent.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones) were the highest cost at $11.8 million. After that, the country spent $6.9 million on armored vests and $5.7 million on computer hardware and software.
Overview of crypto fund spending. Source: Twitter.
“Thanks to the crypto community for support since the start of the full-scale invasion," Fedorov tweeted.
Over $60 million of...
Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are being funded by crypto.
Over 54 pro-Russian volunteer groups have cumulatively sourced $2.2 million in cryptocurrency donations to fund war efforts in Ukraine, according to a report from Chainalysis on Friday.
The blockchain analytics firm said that the vast majority of funds were sent in Bitcoin ($1.45 million) and Ethereum ($590,000), with “considerable quantities” sent in Tether, Litecoin, and Dogecoin as well. Most of the funds were donated to j...
