Crypto Market Surge Continues as Bitcoin Tops $43K, Ethereum Nears $3K

This morning’s rise in prices across the cryptocurrency market wasn’t a short-lived blip: the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other top coins has continued to accelerate over the course of the day, with Bitcoin rising above $43,000 and Ethereum eyeing a move back towards $3,000.

As of this writing, BitcoinBitcoin is now up nearly 15% over the last 24 hours at a current price of $43,291 per CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin’s price sat under $38,000 this time yesterday, and had fallen as low as $34,459 over the past week.

Meanwhile, EthereumEthereum has popped back above $2,900 for the first time in 10 days, at a current price of $2,902. The second-largest cryptocurrency is flirting with a move back above $3,000, which it last touched on February 17. Ethereum is up 11% over the past 24 hours.

 Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Bitcoin Trading Against the Ruble Surges as Russia's Currency Crashes

Ruble/Bitcoin trading volume has surged to nine-month highs as the Russian currency collapsed against the dollar in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  According to data by blockchain analytics company Kaiko, published in Coindesk, ruble-denominated Bitcoin trades blew up by as much as $1.5 billion on Thursday. The bulk of the activity was concentrated on Binance, confirmed Kaiko research analyst Clara Medalie in an email to the publication.  The data also reveals that Tether/Ruble tradin...

That matches the wider cryptocurrency market cap increase seen over the last 24 hours, as the market currently sits above $1.9 trillion in total.

Bitcoin and the wider crypto market saw a steep and sudden decline last week after Russia invaded Ukraine, ratcheting up the geopolitical tension. However, as Western nations have banded together against Russia and implemented sanctions on the aggressor, the markets are starting to tick back up—and quite rapidly this afternoon.

Additionally, amid sanctions and reports that citizens in Russia and Ukraine alike are having trouble accessing traditional banking and financial services, the turmoil may be making the case for decentralized currencies that cannot be controlled by a government.

Terra is the biggest winner in the top 10 crypto coins by market cap, rising a staggering 25% over the last 24 hours to a current price of nearly $90. Solana has also seen a larger-than-average increase, up 17% over the last day at a price of $99.