Activity from major cryptocurrency exchanges suggests people from Ukraine and Russia are seeking out crypto as a safe haven asset, finds Arcane Research.
What Happened: In a report published on March 1, analysts at Arcane found the activity on crypto exchange Binance indicative of significant buying activity from both countries.
On Feb. 28, there was a massive increase in trading volume in the ruble pairs on Binance. The volume between stablecoin Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) and the Russian ruble hit an all-time high of $35 billion.
“These volume increases could indicate that Russians seek stablecoins to get dollar exposure ahead of possible sanctions directed towards Russian crypto traders,” said Arcane.
“However, the rising volumes could also be caused by market makers seeking to eliminate their ruble exposure.”
The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and ruble trading pair also saw a significant increase over the same period. On Feb. 24, the daily volume between BTC/RUB exceeded $16 million.
Analysts noted Ukrainians have also been increasingly seeking crypto exposure. The BTC/UAH and USDT/UAH trading pairs reportedly saw enormous increases in trading volume over the same period.
On Feb 26, a Ukrainian refugee told Bitcoin Magazine he was able to use Bitcoin as a way to get across the border to Poland after the Ukrainian central bank suspended electronic cash transfers and ATMs after the country had been invaded.
Photo by Kanchanara via Unsplash
