BTC - Why Cryptocurrency-Related Investments Like Coinbase and Bitcoin Are Struggling Today
Cryptocurrencies headed lower at the end of this week. The total value of the crypto market fell 4.8% in 24 hours and 9.3% in two days, as of 1:10 p.m. ET on Friday. Most of the major digital currencies showed similar downtrends. The 24-hour chart for Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) pointed 4.3% lower while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) displayed a 5.9% haircut and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) suffered a 6% drop. The negative mojo also drove crypto-related stocks lower. For example, shares of the cryptocurrency trading platform operator Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) were down 3.2%, having recovered from an even deeper dip of 5.9% earlier in the day.
The chief reason behind these cryptocurrency price drops is found in Ukraine , where Russian troops are gathering around the country's border and many observers fear there could be a full-scale invasion any day now. Ukraine holds a strategically important position on the map, affecting Russia's access to Mediterranean and trans-European trade routes. In particular, Ukraine's Crimean peninsula controls the flow of Russian oil and natural gas into crucial export markets. If this tension erupts into an actual invasion, the resulting effects on the global economy would be unpredictable but almost certainly not good.
On top of that high-strung situation in international politics, the U.S. government is grappling with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Interest rates will soon show significant increases for the first time in decades, undermining the value of growth-oriented assets such as cryptocurrencies.
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Why Cryptocurrency-Related Investments Like Coinbase and Bitcoin Are Struggling Today