Against the USD, the stablecoin is trading at $1.04. We don’t trust the local currency. The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Before Russia’s attack, Ukraine planned to open the cryptocurrency market to businesses and investors. We don’t trust the banking system. The majority of people have nothing else to choose apart from crypto. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss. In legalizing cryptocurrencies in the country, Ukrainian legislators also determined the country’s National Securities Commission was to regulate the cryptocurrency market, issuing permits to service providers and monitoring activities. We don’t trust the government.

Russia’s MOEX index dropped around 45% at one point. The central bank has banned cross-border foreign currency purchases and withdrawals as it suspends foreign exchange markets and looks to establish a stable hryvnia exchange rate. Exchange rates on Kuna show that traders are paying a premium for Tether’s USDT stablecoin. According to its data, USDT is trading, at the time of writing, for 32.31 UAH, equivalent to $1.08. The National Bank of Ukraine has also limited cash withdrawals to 100,000 UAH per day, equivalent to around $3,350. Ukraine, which saw its legislators vote to legalize cryptocurrencies earlier this month, has seen its central bank suspend electronic cash transfers after a nationwide martial law was declared.

A popular Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange, Kuna, has seen its trading volume explode after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation,” which appears to be a full-scale invasion of the country. Markets reacted to Putin’s announcement. Both the Russian ruble and the Ukrainian hryvnia saw their values plummet as military operations started, with the ruble enduring a noticeable harsher downtrend. Kuna’s trading volumes exploded as the invasion started. Data from CryptoCompare shows that on average the exchange’s trading volume was hovering around 45 million Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) per day, and shows that on the day Russia’s invasion started, its trading volume exploded to 150 million UAH, equivalent to around $5 million.

US expressed its concerns with various courses of action in Rafah, while the Israeli side agreed to take the concerns into account and to have follow-up discussions between experts on Rafah with follow-up discussions to include an in-person strategic consultative group meeting as early as next week, according to Reuters. Appeared to have landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Japanese PM Kishida said Japan launched a protest against North Korea’s missile launch and that North Korean missile launch affects not only peace and stability in the region but also the international community, while it was separately reported that the US military condemned North Korea’s missile launch. North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile which was reported to have fallen shortly after. US President Biden’s administration is reportedly considering the approval of a USD 18bln sale of aircraft and other munitions to Israel – Source – including F-15 jets.