Data from blockchain-analysis firms show that Russian denominated crypto purchasing and trading on major exchanges have faltered, debunking theories that the country will pivot to digital assets to circumvent sanctions. When Bitcoin rallied over 15% last week, some industry experts attributed the surge to Russians buying cryptocurrency in the face of increasing economic sanctions. This theory seems to be proved false, however, as data from Chainalysis showed that ruble-denominated crypto trading volume was just $34.1 million on March 3, around half of a recent peak of $70.7 million a week ago on Feb. 24. Speaking on the matter of sanctions-fueled …

U.S.-based NFT marketplace OpenSea has reportedly begun barring Iranian users from its platform, sparking outrage from NFT collectors and raising fresh debate about decentralization in the crypto space. On Thursday morning, Iranian OpenSea users started posting on Twitter that their accounts were being deactivated or deleted with no prior warning. Iranian NFT artist “Bornosor” vented frustrations to their 4,700 followers, in a tweet that quickly gained traction, garnering 342 retweets and over a thousand likes within a few hours. Bornosor stated, “NOT A gm AT ALL. Woke up to my @opensea trading account being deactivated/deleted without notice or any explanation.” …

UkraineDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization created by Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova, Trippy Labs and PleasrDAO members, crowdfunded 2188 ETH, or $6.1 million, for a 1/1 Ukrainian flag NFT. Proceeds will go to nonprofit organizations in Ukraine that are helping those affected by the Russian invasion. The NFT sale was hosted as a PartyBid auction, allowing people to pool resources and bid collectively for fractionalized ownership of the digital Ukrainian flag. Contributors will receive ERC-20 tokens in the form of LOVE tokens depending on the donation amount. At the time of writing, the NFT has not been fractionalized and the funds …

Bitcoin (BTC) has the potential to become a "good bet" for investors if the Federal Reserve does everything it can to keep the U.S. economy afloat against impending recession risks, according to popular analyst Bitcoin Jack. The independent market analyst pitted the flagship cryptocurrency, often called "digital gold" by its enthusiasts, against the prospects of further quantitative easing by the U.S. central bank, noting that the ongoing military standoff between Ukraine and Russia had choked the supply chain of essential commodities, such as oil and wheat, resulting in higher global inflation. For instance, consumer prices in Europe jumped 5.8% year-over-year …

While the West is growing increasingly concerned over Russia’s potential use of cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions, some Russians are using their Bitcoin (BTC) to help Ukrainian people. Pavel Muntyan, a renowned Russian animation producer and creator of the animated web series “Mr. Freeman,” has called on anti-war Russians to support Ukrainian citizens amid Russia’s ongoing military attack on the country. Muntyan took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the opening of a cryptocurrency donation address for Russians who want to support Ukrainian people anonymously as Russia has banned its citizens from helping people in Ukraine. On Feb. 27, Russia’s General …

New York state’s efforts to enforce sanctions against Russia have ramped up a gear with the Department of Financial Services, or DFS, expediting the procurement of additional blockchain analytics technology. According to a statement released Wednesday, the department will use the technology to help detect exposure to Russian individuals and entities subject to federal sanctions, by the virtual currency businesses licensed by the department. NY Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order Feb. 27 directing state agencies to divest from Russian institutions and companies, as well as entities that provide them with support. She said: “New York is proudly home …

With the price of the meme-based token Dogecoin higher than that of the Russian ruble, Ukraine opened to DOGE donations for the first time. Ukraine's minister of digital transformation Mikhail Fedorov announced on Wednesday that the token had “exceeded Russian ruble in value” — though the ruble has dropped significantly against the U.S. dollar in the wake of U.S. and EU sanctions, its price has been lower than DOGE’s since January 2021. According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, the price of Dogecoin (DOGE) is roughly $0.13 at the time of publication, having fallen by less than 1% over the …

Investor sentiment across the cryptocurrency ecosystem has seen a significant shift in the positive direction over the past week, despite events in the wider world. Currently, Bitcoin (BTC) is back above $43,500 and many altcoins are also witnessing double-digit gains. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine and recent actions taken by governments to limit access to banking services may have helped to shine a light on the value of holding cryptocurrencies which offer some protection against uncontrollable events and what some might perceive as government overreach. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of BTC has oscillated …

As reported by local news outlet tass.ru, the Central Bank of Russia once again suspended trading on the nation's leading Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX) on Wednesday, and will not open the exchange on Thursday. Trading on the MOEX has been halted since Feb. 25, after Russia launched its ongoing military occupation of Ukraine. On a monthly basis, the exchange's index has lost over 34% of its value (not adjusted for inflation), as Western leaders imposed crippling sanctions on Russia in response to the conflict. In addition, MOEX's main website has been knocked offline since Monday, with Ukraine's IT Army allegedly …

Economy and finance ministers representing nations in the European Union have said they will address Russia’s potential use of cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions imposed on it following its operations in Ukraine. Speaking to reporters through an interpreter following an informal video conference of EU economy and finance ministers on Wednesday, France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said lawmakers had already worked to freeze “a significant amount of the assets” in Russia’s central bank as part of its efforts to financially penalize the country over its ongoing efforts in Ukraine. However, he added that the 27 member states of the EU …

Federal Reserve Chair Pro Tempore Jerome Powell and some members of the U.S. House of Representatives called for congressional action on crypto in response to discussions about Russia potentially evading sanctions. In a Wednesday hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on “Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy”, California Representative Juan Vargas asked Powell if cryptocurrency could be a "way out" for Russia looking for financial transactions in the wake of the U.S. and European Union cutting the country off from the SWIFT payments network. The Fed chair said that the situation with Russia "underscores the need for …

On Wednesday, the European Union announced that within 10 days, it intends to remove seven Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, messaging system. The list of sanctioned banks includes Russia's second-largest bank VTB, Bank Otrkitie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank, and VEB. Without access to SWIFT, a Belgian messaging system that connects over 11,000 financial institutions worldwide, Russian banks, and by proxy, the Russian economy, is likely to endure severe losses. For example, Iran lost 30% of its foreign trade after being banned from SWIFT in 2012. VTB stock price | Source: Yahoo Finance …