Bitcoin jumps 8% after Treasury imposes new sanctions against Russian central bank

Bitcoin jumps 8% after Treasury imposes new sanctions against Russian central bank

The crypto market rose on Monday after the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions against Russia's central bank. Bitcoin jumped 8.2% to $40,959.30, while ether rose 6.7% to $2,801.93. U.S. equities were down sharply earlier in the day before recovering a big chunk of their losses. The sanctions unveiled by the Biden administration The moves highlight the role crypto can have in military conflict. The young asset class has never had the opportunity to show its potential significance in that type of environment before. Since Thursday, when the invasion by Russia began, transactions on centralized bitcoin exchanges in both the Russian ruble and the Ukrainian hryvnia surged to their highest levels in months, according to crypto data company Kaiko. "Volume for both RUB and UAH trading pairs increased far more quickly than volume for other pairs, such as BTC-USD, which suggests the crisis is directly influencing trading behavior," according to Kaiko. Michael Rinko, venture associate at AscendEx, said $38,000 is the number to watch. "This is one of the biggest accumulation phases," he said. "You can tell the cost basis of every single holder. More people bought at $38,000 than at any other level above or below for a good margin.