As the Russia and Ukraine conflict continues, the crypto markets are showing clear trends and giving investors confidence. At the same time, the war is blocking out a few important news stories for crypto investors. We make heads or tails of the coin flips below.

Bitcoin Hits its Floor

The last month has been a rollercoaster ride for Bitcoin, as it fell over 10% during the Russia -Ukraine war. Bitcoin bottomed out at around $48,000 before rallying to $61,000 and then falling again in the last day to sit around $52,000. What can we learn from this volatility?

Since the start of the year, Bitcoin lowest was $48,000 and its highest was $65,000  investors are becoming confident that the floor in Bitcoin price has been identified. This even more meaningful because it has remained consistent through different news events like the Ukraine invasion and various inflation scares out of the Fed. It appears likely that if Bitcoin drops below the $50,000 threshold a recovery in the price will shortly follow.

Crypto Exchange Bans

The White House National Security Council reached out to crypto exchanges like Binance, FTX and Coinbase to ban Russians from using cryptocurrencies. This follows calls from the Ukraine Vice-Prime Minister for crypto exchanges to freeze the crypto wallets of Russian and Belarusian politicians.

The discussed ban would prevent Russians, who are the subject of sanctions, from using cryptocurrencies to avoid government sanctions, like the ban on Russian banks to access the SWIFT global banking system. Many analysts are concerned this proposal may be as far reaching as blocking all Russian users from those crypto exchanges. The major crypto currency exchanges are currently resisting such sweeping changes and are instead blocking certain transactions related to addresses identified by the US government.

The bans will likely serve to reduce some of the volatility of major cryptos like Bitcoin as high-net worth individuals (whales) have their crypto locked up by the growing list of sanctions. Conversely, if news breaks that a wider ban on Russian users will be initiated, expect a fire-sale of crypto assets as Russians offload their positions before the regulations are in place.

SEC to Lose Case against Ripple

In December 2020, Ripple has been under a cloud as a $1.8 billion SEC lawsuit claims that two of Ripple Lab executives contravened the law by selling unregistered securities. The SEC claims that Ripple, and by extension many other cryptocurrencies, are securities that must be registered with the commission and follow other regulatory rules.

The case has massive ramifications for Ripple and crypto. If an adverse finding is held against Ripple, many virtual currencies will be the subject of new SEC investigations and red tape. The consequence likely being an end to many small to mid-cap cryptocurrency projects. So it positive news that a former managing executive of policy at the SEC has suggested that the SEC will likely lose its case against Ripple.

Expect the news will bolster Ripple recent performance, which rose 16% over the last month, while equivalent cryptos like Solana and Cardano have fallen over 20%.

Upcoming Initial Coin Offerings

An initial coin offering (ICO) is the cryptocurrency equivalent to an initial public offering (IPO). During an ICO, cryptocurrency projects will raise interest in their project and sell an initial allocation of coins to investors to raise funds.

Here a list of the latest ICOs that are about to drop:

CoinICO End DateIndiGG9 Mar 2022DarleyGo10 Mar 2022Green Metaverse Token10 Mar 2022Drunk Robots11 Mar 2022

[Source: Coin Market Cap]