Russian rubles are now flooding into Tether, while rubble-denominated crypto pairs are on the rise on major crypto exchanges. Between February 20 and February 28, Bitcoin volume surged by 243%, from 522 to 1,792 BTC traded via Binance’s BTC/RUB combo. A Russian government study claimed Russians held 2 trillion rubles ($20 billion) in cryptocurrencies. Related Article | Bitcoin Staggers After Putin’s Nuclear Deterrence Alert Warning Rubble-Denominated Crypto Pairs Surge On February 28, a tremendous spike in the volume of the ruble pairings in Binance, especially in USDT, became apparent, with the USDTRUB volume reaching a new all-time high of $35 million. The amount of bitcoin has also increased significantly. These surges in volume could imply that Russians are looking into the price stable crypto-tokens to gain dollar exposure ahead of potential sanctions against Russian crypto dealers. On the other hand, the growing volumes could result from market makers trying to get rid of their ruble exposure. Because of circumstantial differences, Ukrainians seek crypto exposure in these uncertain times. On SWIFT And Russian Reserves According to financial commentator Charles Archer, cutting Russia off from the international SWIFT payment network “has rendered Russia’s $630 billion reserves, which are primarily held in foreign currency, worthless.” Furthermore, when it comes to Ukrainian hryvnia swaps, USDT, BTC, and ETH are all st...
