Ruble-denominated Bitcoin volumes hit nearly 1.5 billion RUB last week, with crypto trading volumes surging across the country amid geopolitical concerns in Ukraine.

With increasing uncertainty surrounding Russia’s financial system following Western sanctions, investors have started moving funds towards Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Last Thursday, Ruble-denominated BTC volumes reached 1.5 billion, the highest figure in 10 months.

Russian investors are among the largest cryptocurrency holders on earth. According to estimates, Russians own about 12% of global crypto assets, and now that war has broken out between Russia and Ukraine, investors are seeking refuge outside geopolitical fiat currency, accelerating on-chain movements of cryptocurrencies.

Data from crypto research platform Kaiko indicates that Ruble-denominated crypto volumes surged across the market. According to the firm’s research analyst Clara Medalie, trading activity was concentrated on digital currency exchange Binance.

“Bitcoin-Ukrainian hryvnia volume has also spiked, but not as high as October levels. BTC-UAH only trades on 2 exchanges: Binance and LocalBitcoin,” Medalie told news portal CoinDesk in an email.

Latest information shows volumes related to USDT/RUB reached 1.3 billion – the highest level in nearly 8 months.


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Bitcoin Activity Increases

While Bitcoin responded negatively when the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalation, the overall network activity remained fairly robust. On Feb 28, non-zero BTC addresses reached an all-time high of 40 million.

At the same time, data from on-chain analysis platform Santiment showed mixed takes.

Bitcoin’s token circulation hit a 9-month high, revealing just how polarized traders have become with the war. This circulation spike was similar to Black Thursday back in March 2020, where crypto traders sold at the bottom at the beginning of COVID.

With a market cap of over $826 billion, Bitcoin exchanges hands at the price level of $43,500 – up 16% in 24 hours.


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