Over $450M In Crypto Liquidations – Bitcoin, Ether, Cardano, XRP Lose Billions Amid Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine

On Thursday, reports of President Putin giving an Invasion order on Eastern Ukraine weighed down heavily on cryptocurrencies, triggering a selling frenzy that saw the entire crypto market lose almost half a billion dollars in liquidations.

At press time, $425.12M worth of crypto has been “Rekt” since the order came in last night with 140,732 traders being liquidated in the past 24 hours according to CoinGlass data. While the largest single liquidation order happened on Bitfinex where LINK valued at $3.21M was liquidated, Bitcoin and Ethereum also suffered immensely after losing $129.95M and $116.68M during the sell-off.

Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $35,296, down 8.85% on the day, despite climbing as high as $39,000 yesterday. Ethereum on the other hand has recoiled back to $2,323 after losing 12.68% of its value. Other cryptocurrencies such as Cardano, XRP, LINK, NEAR, DOGE, and AVAX have been the hardest hit, losing over 15% in less than 5 hours. The global cryptocurrency market cap has also dropped by 10.1% in the last 24 hours to sit at $1.6 trillion as seen on CoinGecko.

Putin’s order continues to draw a spate of criticism in the meantime with Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin blasting Russia for its highhandedness. 

“Very upset by Putin’s decision to abandon the possibility of a peaceful solution to the dispute with Ukraine and go to war instead. Buterin tweeted in Russian following news that Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “This is a crime against the Ukrainian and Russian people. I want to wish everyone security, although I know that there will be no security. Glory to Ukraine.”

“Reminder: Ethereum is neutral, but I am not,” he added.

Other pundits like PlanB and Michael Saylor believe that Bitcoin could take center stage in the Russia /NATO faceoff, making it even more attractive.

“Russia might be the next WikiLeaks moment for Bitcoin.” PlanB wrote. “After the US cut WikiLeaks off from traditional methods of payment like Visa and PayPal, WikiLeaks turned to bitcoin in 2011.”

Another clique believes that although the ripple effects of the Ukrainian invasion on cryptocurrencies will eventually subside, it could take longer unless tensions in Eastern Europe subside.

“Risk assets continue to be weighed down by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions. This includes Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies which are currently still very much viewed as a high-risk asset class,” Luno’s VP of development, Vijay Ayyar said. 

“The next key level to watch for Bitcoin will be $28,000 to $29,000, ” he added. According to him, a breach of that level could easily send the price to $20,000 or lower.