More On: bitcoin
How much 6 popular cryptocurrencies lost in 2022 ?
How people who watch the market were wrong about bitcoin in 2022
Twitter Is Too Musk to Fail
Why Jim Cramer suggests purchasing bitcoin or ethereum, with one exception
El Salvador's bitcoin experiment has cost $375 million so far and lost $60 million
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Bitcoin appears to have risen from the dead, leaving experts perplexed.
Cryptocurrency skeptics have been left in "disbelief" after the digital coins surged in just 24 hours, more than making up for the ground lost after markets fell on news that Russia had invaded Ukraine.
When geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe reached a breaking point last Thursday, bitcoin lost 10% of its value.
Since then, the top-ranked cryptocurrency has struggled to establish itself. It was as low as $US34,000 ($A46,800) at one point.
However, it quickly regained its lost value and then some.
At the time of writing, bitcoin had risen by 11%, with a 24-hour high of US$41,993 ($A57,817).
Other prominent coins were also on a winning streak: Solana was up nearly 16%, Terra was up 14%, Ethereum was up 8%, and both ripple XRP and BNB were up 7%.
According to Tony Sycamore, APAC market analyst at City Index, what we're seeing could indicate a "Lazarus-like recovery" in the cryptocurrency space, referring to the Biblical figure who rose from the dead.
As bitcoin began to stabilize, CryptoPotato reported that the blockchain was "confounding bears."
The news also boosted the Australian analysis and comparison site Finder.
"BTC's ongoing price momentum has seen the digital currency completely erase its monthly losses," Finder noted.
The world's leading blockchain has also achieved "a relatively high level of financial stability over the last 48 hours," according to the report.
But, just as the cryptocurrency's price drop was attributed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, so was its resurrection.
"Sanctions imposed by the West on Russia over the weekend have resulted in strong inflows into bitcoin and other digital assets as Russians seek ways to get their money out of the country and their rapidly tumbling currency," Mr Sycamore said.
According to cryptocurrency data firm Kaiko, bitcoin trading volumes in Russia have reached levels not seen since May of last year.
Volumes on rouble-based exchanges increased by 121% compared to the previous week, according to CoinShares data, as reported by Bloomberg.
Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov pleaded with cryptocurrency exchanges to block the transactions in order to economically cripple his adversary.
"I'm requesting that all major cryptocurrency exchanges block Russian users' addresses," he wrote.
"It is critical not only to freeze addresses associated with Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users."
I'm asking all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users.
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 27, 2022
It's crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.
Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange that joined the Association of Banks of Russia last month to provide regulatory input on blockchains, understandably has a large number of Russian transactions going through it.
Earlier on Tuesday, it took the unprecedented step of blocking some of its Russian users' accounts.
Binance said that while Russian clients targeted by sanctions will be barred from its system, it will not interfere with the accounts of others, despite Ukraine's call to block all Russian users.
"Crypto is intended to provide greater financial freedom for people all over the world," Binance stated.
"To unilaterally decide to deny people access to their crypto would be contrary to the very reason crypto exists."
However, we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that we take action against those who have had sanctions imposed on them while minimizing the impact on innocent users."
On the weekend, Western nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada imposed new sanctions on Russia, including the blocking of certain lenders' access to the SWIFT international payment system.
** Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of USA GAG nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.