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IMF Report on El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption: Risks Averted, but Transparency Needed
According to a recent mission statement published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), El Salvador has adopted bitcoin as legal tender and has avoided risks so far. The IMF states that the risks have not materialized due to the limited use of bitcoin. However, the United Nations financial agency warns that if its legal tender status drives growth, it could pose risks to the country’s “financial integrity and stability.”
On Feb. 10, 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a concluding mission statement regarding El Salvador and its economy. The IMF visited San Salvador from Jan. 30 to Feb. 8 for the 2023 Article IV consultation. In the statement, the IMF discusses bitcoin adoption in El Salvador and states that “risks should be addressed.” Currently, the IMF acknowledges that the risks it raised in 2021 have mostly been avoided.
“While risks have not materialized due to the limited bitcoin use so far—as suggested by survey and remittances data—its use could grow given its legal tender status and new legislative reforms to encourage the use of crypto assets, including tokenized bonds (Digital Assets Law),” the IMF’s researchers detail. “In this context, underlying risks to financial integrity and stability, fiscal sustainability, and consumer protection persist, and the recommendations of the 2021 Article IV remain valid.”
El Salvador declared bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, and since then, growth has been sluggish. The country has made regular bitcoin investments and added it to its treasury. However, the IMF emphasizes the need for more transparency in the government’s bitcoin purchases and the Chivo wallet, which is state-owned. “Greater transparency regarding the government’s bitcoin transactions and the financial status of the state-owned bitcoin wallet (Chivo) is crucial, particularly to evaluate underlying fiscal contingencies and counterparty risks,” the agency noted.
Besides the risks associated with bitcoin, the slow pace of its adoption, and adverse economic shocks, the Salvadoran economy grew rapidly last year, according to the IMF. The IMF estimates that the economy expanded by 2.8% in 2022. Amid mounting economic vulnerabilities in 2022, the IMF asserts that the Salvadoran Treasury still lacks access to international capital markets.
The IMF identifies two major issues that the Salvadoran government could address: implementing better Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) policies and increasing fiscal transparency.
NFT Market Remains Resilient With 1.23% Increase in Sales, Ethereum Dominates With 81% of Total NFT Settlements
Non-fungible token (NFT) sales rose slightly last week, increasing 1.23% to $232.49 million in recorded sales. The top two NFT collections, Otherdeed and Doodles, saw growth of 44% to 58% compared to the previous week. Ethereum continues to dominate the NFT industry, accounting for more than 81% of total sales last week with $188.51 million in NFT sales.
NFT sales remain steady this week and during February 2023, with $39.72 million in recorded sales so far this month. Over the past seven days, there were $232.49 million in NFT sales, a 1.23% increase compared to the previous week.
During that time, 481,917 buyers participated in NFT sales, 19.30% more than the previous week. Additionally, 1,390,784 NFT transactions were processed, a 3.21% increase over the prior week. Of the $232.49 million in sales, Ethereum had the most out of the 20 blockchain networks listed on cryptoslam.
Ethereum accounted for 81% of total NFT sales, or approximately $188.51 million in settlements. The second largest blockchain for NFT sales was Solana, which processed $27.40 million in the past week, a decrease of 2.65% from the previous week. Immutable X ranked third in NFT sales, with sales rising 37.85% to $4.5 million.
The remaining top NFT sales blockchains, in order, are Cardano, Polygon, Flow, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum. Fantom saw the largest increase in NFT sales this week, with a 73.81% rise, although only $17,064 in NFT sales were settled in the past seven days.
This past week, the top NFT collection was Otherdeed, with sales rising 44.37% to $17.33 million. Doodles saw a 58.49% increase, reaching $13.88 million in total sales. Otherdeed and Doodles were followed by Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and Checks VV Edition.
The highest NFT floor value on February 5, 2023, was for Cryptopunks, at 63.99 ether at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The second highest floor value belonged to the BAYC collection, with a slightly lower value of around 63.5 ether.
The most expensive NFT sales from the past week include: Bored Ape Yacht Club #8,483, which sold for $581,000 seven days ago but then sold again for $490,000 two days later; Cryptopunk #2,311, sold for $511,000 three days ago; Cryptopunk #9092, sold for $496,000 four days ago; BAYC #8,483, making the fourth largest sale after being sold twice; and Cryptopunk #9,611, sold for $482,000 four days ago.
The fifth most expensive sale was Cryptopunk #9,611, followed by Hausphases #379, which sold for $461,000 on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023.
Bitcoin’s Crypto Market Action Holds the Upper Hand as Dominance Level Surpasses 40%
On Jan. 21, 2023, the price of bitcoin reached a 24-hour high of $23,333 per unit at 5 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. The entire crypto-economy is now valued at $1.05 trillion after rising 7.2% against the U.S. dollar. Bitcoin’s price rise has led to the crypto asset’s dominance level surpassing the 40% region among thousands of crypto assets, as the digital currency’s market valuation has climbed to $443 billion.
Bitcoin jumped above the $23,000 zone on Jan. 21 and the crypto asset’s value is now 37.2% higher than it was 30 days ago. The increase has pushed BTC’s dominance level above the 40% region. According to coinmarketcap (CMC) data, BTC’s dominance level on Jan. 21 is around 42.4%.
The leading crypto asset’s dominance level rose above the 40% region after the first week of January 2023. The crypto economy aggregator coingecko (CG) indicates that bitcoin’s dominance is around 41.1% on Jan. 21. Bitcoin’s dominance is the digital currency’s market capitalization divided by the crypto economy’s entire market valuation.
From 2009 to 2017, BTC’s dominance level held above the 80% range. But after dropping below 80%, the dominance level never returned to that position. While BTC’s dominance is around 41-42% today, CG metrics show the second-leading crypto asset, ethereum (ETH), has a dominance level of around 18.4%.
CMC data suggests ETH’s dominance is around 19.3% out of the $1.05 trillion in U.S. dollar value. Other major dominant players in January 2023 include tether (USDT) as it commands 6.33% market dominance, and binance coin (BNB) has a dominance level of around 4.57%.
The stablecoin USDC has a market dominance level of around 4.13%, and XRP’s is roughly 1.99%, according to CMC statistics on Saturday afternoon at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Between BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, USDC, and XRP, the dominance level of all six coins is around 78.72% on Jan. 21. The last time BTC’s dominance was this high was six months ago in mid-July 2022.
Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan: Crypto Is Too Dependent on ‘Greater Fool Theory’ to Be a Desirable Investment
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says crypto is “too dependent on the ‘greater fool theory’ to be a desirable investment.” However, he noted that the collapse of crypto exchange FTX was “purely fraud,” rather than the result of a feature inherent to crypto. He does not expect the FTX contagion to spread far beyond the crypto space.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan shared his views on cryptocurrency, the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, and the U.S. economy in a year-end Q&A published by Advisors Capital Management this week.
Greenspan served five terms as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1987 to 2006. He was appointed chairman by four different U.S. presidents. He joined Advisors Capital Management in September 2016 as Economic Advisor to the asset management firm.
The former Fed chair was asked to comment on the FTX meltdown and whether he expects contagion from it. “I do not expect the fallout from FTX to spread beyond the cryptocurrency/NFT [non-fungible token] space,” Greenspan replied, citing “the information that has come to light so far.” He stressed:
The collapse of FTX was not a result of lax risk management, inadequate accounting procedures, or some feature inherent to crypto — it was purely fraud.
“Fortunately, although FTX and firms like it have increased marketing of their products in recent years, the lack of any noticeable widespread market reaction to FTX suggests that they are still fairly concentrated in the hands of a relatively small subset of investors,” Greenspan described.
“Moreover, the differences we observed in the aftermaths of the popping of the tech bubble and the popping of the housing bubble showed clearly that credit-fueled asset bubbles create far more contagion when they ultimately deflate,” he opined. “There does not appear to be a significant amount of leverage dedicated to the cryptocurrency/NFT space at this time, so I do not expect contagion to spread very far beyond this particular asset class.”
The former Federal Reserve chief added:
With respect to the wider crypto universe, I view the asset class as too dependent on the ‘greater fool theory’ to be a desirable investment.
Greenspan also shared his view on the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation. Commenting on whether a recession is required to bring down inflation as some economists have suggested, he said:
A recession does appear to be the most likely outcome at this time.
However, he does not believe “a Fed reversal that is substantial enough to avoid at least a mild recession” is warranted. “Wage increases, and by extension employment, still need to soften further for a pullback in inflation to be anything more than transitory. So, we may have a brief period of calm on the inflation front but I think it will be too little too late,” Greenspan concluded.
Global Cryptocurrency Trade Volumes Saw a Significant Decline in December 2022
According to statistics, daily cryptocurrency trade volumes have dropped significantly during Dec. 2022. On Jan. 1, data shows that $22.95 billion was traded in the last 24 hours, compared to double that amount, $54.78 billion, two weeks earlier. On November 8, 2022, 54 days prior, amid the FTX collapse, global cryptocurrency trade volumes were approximately $115.33 billion.
Cryptocurrency trade volumes worldwide have significantly declined since the beginning of the year. For example, on Jan. 2, 2022, one year ago, the global trade volume for the 24-hour period was approximately $70.48 billion, according to archived coingecko statistics. Today’s 24-hour volume worldwide is 67.43% less at $22.95 billion. In addition, 71.63% of all trades on Jan. 1, 2023, were paired with the cryptocurrency economy’s stablecoins.
While all the stablecoins today represent $16.44 billion in trade volume, tether (USDT) commands $12.45 billion, which equates to 71.63% of the aggregate on Jan. 1, 2023. Two weeks ago on Dec. 15, the global trade volume was $54.78 billion and a good majority of those trades were in stablecoins as well. Cryptocurrency trade volumes have been declining since Jan. 2022, with monthly spikes in May, Sept., and Nov. 2022.
The November spike occurred amid the chaos surrounding FTX’s insolvency, and there were significantly higher daily trade volumes at that time. Data from The Block’s crypto exchange volume (legitimate index) shows that Oct. 2022 had $543.67 billion in volume, while Nov. 2022 saw an increase of approximately 23.79% to $673.01 billion. Now that Dec. 2022 is over, statistics show that Dec. 2022’s total volumes were around $357.48 billion, or 46.88% lower than the previous month.
The last time global cryptocurrency trade volumes were this low was two years ago in December 2020. At that time, global crypto trade volumes were 7.27% higher at $385.51 billion. Lower cryptocurrency trade volumes can have both positive and negative implications for investors.
On one hand, low trade volume is often seen as a sign of a lack of interest in the crypto market, which could potentially indicate lower values. On the other hand, low trade volume can sometimes be interpreted as a bullish sign for the cryptocurrency economy, as it may suggest limited selling pressure.
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US Senator: Cryptocurrency Cannot Be Stopped, FTX Collapse Isn’t an Indictment of Crypto
U.S. Senator Pat Toomey says illegal actions by crypto exchange FTX must be separated “from perfectly lawful and innovative cryptocurrencies.” Emphasizing that “The collapse of FTX is not an indictment of crypto,” he noted that “cryptocurrency cannot be stopped” and “the technology would simply migrate offshore” if Congress tried.
U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) explained in his opening statement at the Senate Banking Committee hearing Wednesday that the collapse of crypto exchange FTX is not an indictment against cryptocurrency.
“There was unauthorized lending of customer assets to an affiliated entity, and there were fraudulent promises to investors and customers about FTX’s operations. These are outrageous and completely unacceptable,” the senator described, emphasizing:
I want to underscore a bigger issue here: The wrongful behavior that occurred here is not specific to the underlying asset. What appears to have happened here is a complete breakdown in the handling of those assets.
“In our discussion of FTX today, I hope we are able to separate potentially illegal actions from perfectly lawful and innovative cryptocurrencies,” he told the Senate committee.
Noting that cryptocurrencies “are actually software,” Senator Toomey explained: “What we should all understand here is one simple thing: The code committed no crime. FTX and cryptocurrencies are not the same thing. FTX was opaque, centralized, and dishonest. Cryptocurrencies are open-source, decentralized, and transparent.”
The senator from Pennsylvania proceeded to address suggestions that crypto should be banned following the FTX meltdown.
“To those who think that this episode justifies banning crypto, I’d ask you to think about several examples,” he began. “The 2008 financial crisis involved the misuse of products related to mortgages. Did we decide to ban mortgages? Of course not. A commodity brokerage firm run by former New Jersey Senator John Corzine collapsed after customer funds — including U.S. dollars — were misappropriated to fill a shortfall from the firm’s trading losses. Nobody suggested that the problem was the U.S. dollar and that we should ban it.” Senator Toomey stressed: “With FTX, the problem is not the instruments that were used. The problem was the misuse of customer funds, gross mismanagement, and likely illegal behavior.”
The lawmaker continued:
Some of my colleagues have suggested pausing cryptocurrencies before we can address it. This is profoundly misguided, not to mention impossible. Short of enacting draconian, authoritarian policies, cryptocurrency cannot be stopped. If we tried, the technology would simply migrate offshore.
“Are we going to decide to pause our Constitution to stop crypto? This is exactly the kind of mindset that has driven this activity to the dark and less regulated parts of the world,” he further opined.
Moreover, the lawmaker said: “Others have suggested we refrain from addressing cryptocurrency at all, so as to not legitimize its use. This is not only misguided, it’s irresponsible.”
The senator detailed: “Individuals can also be tremendously empowered when they use cryptocurrencies. They can protect against inflation when governments irresponsibly manage their own currencies. They can provide useful services without the need for a company or middleman. And they can let individuals preserve the freedom to transact privately.”
Toomey also tweeted Wednesday:
The collapse of FTX is not an indictment of crypto. It’s an indictment of those who misused customer assets.
“As I’ve said for months, Congress needs to give regulatory clarity so business flows to prudent, sensible, well-regulated American crypto exchanges,” he added.
Addresses That Sat Idle for Years Transferred 1,221 Bitcoins Worth $20M Over the Last 4 Days
During the last seven days, bitcoin’s price has remained above the $16K region following the aftermath of FTX’s collapse. Since then, a number of ‘sleeping bitcoins’ that sat idle for five to nine years have been moving during the last four days. Bitcoins that were worth far less back then are being transferred for the first time in years.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has remained steady during the last seven days, ranging between $16,150 to $16,995 per unit, and a brief jump over the $17K zone. Over the last four days, while BTC prices are much lower than they were at the start of November, hundreds of old bitcoins have been on the move.
For instance, two owners spent 348 bitcoin on Nov. 29, 2022, and the stash was once worth $348,000. We can’t really tell whether or not the transferred coins were sold, but they were spent from addresses created almost six years ago. Heuristics also indicate that out of the 348 bitcoin that sat dormant since March 2017, 299 of that BTC likely belonged to the same owner.
The 348 BTC is worth roughly 5.8 million nominal U.S. dollars using current BTC exchange rates. One owner controlled “17HxA,” an address created on March 29, 2017, and it spent 48.88 BTC at block height 765,168. Coincidently, five more transactions, from addresses created at the end of March 2017, spent 59.99 BTC in each transaction at block heights 765,169, 765,184, 765,185, 765,187, and 765,190.
On the same day, blockchain parsers from btcparser caught a 173.61 BTC spend from an idle address created on June 14, 2017, and another 100 BTC spend from an address created on April 12, 2014. The 100 bitcoin sat in an address idle for close to nine years, and at the time, each BTC was worth less than $500 per unit.
Following these old spends, a transaction from an address first seen close to ten years ago, on April 26, 2013, beat all the spends transacted on Nov. 29, 2022. The transaction took place on Dec. 2, 2022, and the wallet “1EaAv” spent 600 so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins.’ The 600 BTC was worth around $84,000 on April 26, 2013, and today the coins that were spent at block height 765,644, are worth roughly $10.14 million using current BTC exchange rates.
Data shows that out of all the bitcoins spent since Nov. 29, which slept for roughly five to nine years, all of them combined were worth less than $800K in value at the time the original addresses were created. Using exchange rates today, the 1,221.45 BTC that stemmed from ‘sleeping bitcoin’ addresses equates to around $20 million. Old holders are moving bitcoins that sat dormant for five to nine years, while current bitcoin prices are at the lowest values in two years.
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FTX Collapse: Africa-Focused Payments Firm AZA Finance Slams ‘Erroneous Inclusion’ in FTX Bankruptcy Filing
The founder and CEO of an Africa-focused payments firm, Elizabeth Rossiello, claimed on Nov. 11 that the beleaguered crypto exchange FTX had incorrectly included AZ Finance in its chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing. The CEO insisted that her firm does not hold customer funds and is presently taking steps to correct the “erroneous court filings.”
The founder and CEO of AZ Finance, Elizabeth Rossiello, has slammed the “erroneous inclusion” of her firm in FTX’s Nov. 11 chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. According to Rossiello, all AZA Finance entities are not affected by the collapsed crypto exchange’s bankruptcy. She said steps were being taken to correct what she described as erroneous court filing.
As reported by Bitcoin News, FTX listed AZA Finance among the 134 entities that will be included in the bankruptcy process. Under the United States bankruptcy laws, an entity that fails to meet its obligation can file for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Taking this step allows the defaulting entity to recapitalize and eventually emerge from bankruptcy with more equity than debt.
However, in a statement issued on the same day the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy, the “shocked and disappointed” CEO claimed that unlike FTX, which is accused of misappropriating user funds, AZA Finance does not store digital assets on behalf of customers.
“AZA Finance is licensed in multiple jurisdictions as a payments provider. We do not hold customer funds and never have. Less than 10% of our transactions across all of our entities are via digital currencies,” explained Rossiello.
In the statement, Rossiello acknowledges that her company had earlier in the year partnered with FTX Africa. However, according to the CEO, AZA Finance’s so-called commercial partnership with FTX was intended to help the crypto exchange expand Web3 in Africa. This would be done by “helping them build regulated, safe and low-cost payments rails, as well as other discussed but not-yet-launched initiatives such as African artist NFT [non-fungible tokens] collections.”
Therefore, instead of being an owner of AZA Finance, the crypto exchange went on to become a customer of the payments firm. The CEO added:
Neither FTX nor any of its associated entities own or control AZA Finance or our entities, including BTC Africa. Our entities are not part of the FTX bankruptcy. In its disorganised haste, FTX erroneously listed our entities in their bankruptcy filing.
In the statement, Rossiello goes on to name more than 20 entities that “are not impacted by the FTX bankruptcy in any way.” The CEO ended her statement by urging other fintechs to “adhere to global regulation and industry best practices.”
Hong Kong to Start Allowing Retail Crypto Trading in March Next Year: Report
Hong Kong is relaxing its crypto regulation to allow retail investors to trade digital assets directly. A licensing regime for crypto platforms that allows retail crypto trading is reportedly set to be enforced in March next year.
Hong Kong is reportedly relaxing its strict cryptocurrency regulation with a plan to allow retail crypto trading, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
A mandatory licensing regime for cryptocurrency platforms that allows retail crypto trading is set to be enforced in March next year, the publication conveyed, elaborating:
Hong Kong plans to legalize retail trading for crypto starting in March after years of skepticism — a stark contrast to mainland China’s ban.
Moreover, regulators are seeking to allow retail exchanges to list large cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), the news outlet added. The listing rules are likely to include criteria such as the token’s market value, liquidity, and inclusion in third-party crypto indexes.
Gary Tiu, executive director at crypto firm BC Technology Group, commented:
Introducing mandatory licensing in Hong Kong is just one of the important things regulators have to do. They can’t forever effectively close the needs of retail investors.
Michel Lee, executive president of digital asset financial services group Hashkey, explained that Hong Kong has been trying to create an all-encompassing crypto regime, citing tokenized stocks and bonds as a potentially more important segment in the future. “Just trading digital assets on its own is not the goal. The goal is really to grow the ecosystem,” he was quoted as saying.
Hong Kong’s top financial regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), introduced a voluntary licensing regime in 2018. It restricted crypto trading platforms to clients with portfolios of at least HK$8 million ($1 million). However, the tough regulation turned away many crypto businesses and only two firms — BC Technology Group and Hashkey — were approved.
Many people are skeptical of the new crypto regulation, however. Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong co-founder Leonhard Weese shared:
The kind of conversations I’ve had was that people still fear there’ll be a very strict licensing regime. Even if they’re able to deal directly with retail users, they’re still not going to be as attractive or as competitive as overseas platforms.
The SFC’s director of licensing and head of the fintech unit, Elizabeth Wong, said last week: “We’ve had four years of experience in regulating this industry … We think that this may be actually a good time to really think carefully about whether we will continue with this professional investor-only requirement.” She noted that Hong Kong could also authorize exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to offer exposure to mainstream crypto assets.
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Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele Takes Aim at Bitcoin Detractors, Says the Ones Who Are Afraid ‘Are the World’s Powerful Elites’
It’s been over a year since El Salvador codified bitcoin as legal tender in the Latin American country, and by popping the ‘orange pill,’ the country was propelled into the international spotlight. At the end of September, the 41-year-old Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele penned an opinion editorial that takes aim at the detractors who think it was the wrong decision, those who think it was a good decision but for the wrong reasons, and opponents who “are afraid of our decision.”
According to Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, if the bitcoin experiment his country is participating in succeeds, a great number of other countries worldwide will follow in the Latin American country’s footsteps. Bukele said this in a recently penned opinion editorial called “Stop Drinking the Elite’s Kool-Aid,” which was published on September 30, 2022, in English and Spanish. In the editorial, Bukele criticized three camps of detractors and he believes that most of them are simply afraid of El Salvador’s innovative decisions.
“The most vocal detractors, the ones who are afraid and pressuring us to reverse our decision, are the world’s powerful elites and the people who work for or benefit from them,” Bukele explains in his article. “They used to own everything, and in a way they still do; the media, the banks, the NGOs, the international organizations, and almost all the governments and corporations in the world.”
Bukele also denies the many headlines published by media outlets such as “Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, Deutsche Welle, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post” that claim the “whole country’s economy was destroyed by a $50 million loss.” The Salvadoran president says the claims are baloney and mostly because the country has not sold a single bitcoin since it started acquiring a stash of BTC.
“So the argument that we have lost $50 million worth of bitcoin is false, because we simply have not sold any bitcoin,” Bukele’s editorial insists. “And even if we were to accept that argument as true, then it would be ridiculous to conclude that an economy of $28 billion per year will go bankrupt or into default because of a 0.2% ‘loss’ in one year, when in 2021 our economy grew 10.3%, or by $4 billion. This is using the IMF’s own numbers.”
Bukele’s opinion piece further adds:
In 2021, our GDP rose 10.3%, income from tourism rose 52%, employment went up 7%, new businesses up 12%, exports up 17%, energy generation up 19%, energy exports went up 3,291%, and internal revenue went up 37%, all without raising any taxes. And this year, the crime and murder rate have gone down 95%.
The Salvadoran bureaucrat details that he understands that bitcoin is a very large experiment and he believes it’s absurd to claim that the country has already failed. His recent statements are similar to Bitcoin’s inventor, when Satoshi said: “I’m sure that in 20 years there will either be very large transaction volume or no volume.” Similarly, El Salvador has joined the grand experiment and time will tell if the Latin American country’s bet succeeds or fails. If it does succeed, Bukele’s editorial asserts that many countries will follow El Salvador’s lead.
“El Salvador is the epicenter of Bitcoin adoption, and thus, economic freedom, financial sovereignty, censorship resistance, unconfiscatable wealth, and the end of the kingmakers, their printing, devaluating, and reassigning the wealth of the majorities to interests groups, the elites, the oligarchs, and the ones in the shadows behind them, pulling their strings,” Bukele’s article concludes. “If El Salvador succeeds, many countries will follow. If El Salvador somehow fails, which we refuse to, no countries will follow.”
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New York Considers Bill to Establish Cryptocurrency as a Form of Payment for State Agencies
A bill has been introduced in the U.S. state of New York to allow state agencies to accept cryptocurrency payments, including bitcoin, ether, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. The legislation proposes allowing crypto to be used as “a means of payment of fines, civil penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, charges,” and more.
New York State Assembly member Clyde Vanel introduced a bill Thursday that “establishes cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for state agencies,” according to the bill’s description on the New York State Senate website. Assembly Bill A2532 has been referred to the New York State Assembly Committee on Government Operations. According to its summary, the bill:
Establishes that state agencies are allowed to accept cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash as payment.
The bill seeks to amend New York’s state finance law by adding “cryptocurrency as a form of payment.” The legislation defines cryptocurrency as “any form of digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank including but not limited to, bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and bitcoin cash.”
According to its text, the bill proposes authorizing state agencies to enter into agreements with individuals or entities to accept cryptocurrency “as a means of payment of fines, civil penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, charges, revenue, financial obligations or other amounts, including penalties, special assessments and interest, owed to state agencies.”
This week, Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers introduced a similar bill to allow state agencies to accept cryptocurrency. She also launched a bill to make bitcoin legal tender in her state.
Ukraine’s Tascombank Pilots Stellar-based E-hryvnia
Tascombank, one of the oldest banking institutions in Ukraine, has completed the pilot testing of a digital currency based on the Stellar network. The bank believes that its electronic money platform represents an economically viable implementation of blockchain technology.
An “electronic hryvnia” has been tested by Ukraine’s Tascombank during the pilot phase of a project to create a currency with the Stellar network. During the trials, the coin was used in settlements between buyers and sellers, the financial institution announced in a report.
Operations with the new digital asset were carried out in accordance with the current know-your-customer and anti-money laundering procedures, the bank pointed out in the document, quoted by the crypto news outlet Forklog.
Tascombank also emphasized its research demonstrated a number of advantages of employing blockchain, including transparency at all stages of circulation and between all participants in the transactions, increased security and confidentiality for user data, low costs, and high capacity.
The electronic money circulation scheme studied during the pilot is an economically viable business model for using blockchain technology, the authors of the report elaborated, stating that they “consider the pilot project successful and promising in terms of further product development and implementation.”
The bank added that it plans to continue its studies on the issuance and circulation of blockchain-based electronic money. One of the areas its future research is going to cover will be the possible use of such currency in retail non-cash payments.
Tascombank also revealed that the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) believes the results of its pilot, which was launched at the end of 2021, can be used by experts at commercial and central banks to conduct further analysis.
In January of 2021, the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Kyiv chose the Stellar Development Foundation as a partner in the development of the country’s virtual assets ecosystem, including infrastructure for NBU’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). In November, last year, the NBU presented a “draft e-hryvnia concept” to members of the crypto industry, banks, and other financial institutions.
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7 Upcoming Binance Listings to Invest or Buy in 2023; Here’s List
For up-and-coming projects in the sector, joining Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, is a badge of pride.
Seven projects that are awaiting Binance listings are listed below, along with reasons why they could improve your portfolio in 2023.
https://coingape.com/7-upcoming-binance-listings-invest-buy-2023/?gh
BTC Wraps up 13 Consecutive Years of Recorded Market Value, With No Santa Rally in 2022
By the end of this year bitcoin will have 13 consecutive years of recorded market value under its belt. Seven of those years saw Santa rallies all the way up until New Year’s Eve, and five of the 13 years saw bearish returns from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31. There’s still six more days left until the end of 2022, but current market action seems to point toward negative returns this month.
2022 wasn’t the greatest year for bitcoin (BTC) in terms of market value measured in fiat. At the start of the year, BTC was trading for roughly $46K per unit and since then, the price has tumbled 63% since the first of Jan. 2022. According to records, the first recorded nominal value of bitcoin in U.S. dollars was on Oct. 5, 2009 and it was selling for $0.00764 per BTC on New Liberty Standard (NLS). At that rate, whoever was buying bitcoins at that time via NLS could get around 1,309.03 BTC for $1.
We cant really count 2009, as seeing gains during the last month of the year, as recorded prices are sporadic. However, records show on Dec. 17, 2009, one could get around 1,630.33 BTC for for a single greenback. On Dec. 28, 2009, NLS quotes are around 1,578.76 BTC for $1. In Dec. 2010, BTC’s price was much higher and on the first day of the month, BTC exchanged hands for $0.21 per coin. By Dec. 31, 2010, a single bitcoin was 42.85% higher at $0.30 per unit. Bitcoin would also see gains during the last month in 2011, and 2012.
In 2011, BTC traded for $2.97 per unit on Dec. 1, and thirty days later BTC exchanged hands for $4.25 or 43.09% higher. On Dec. 1, 2012, BTC changed hands for $12.57 per coin and by the end of the year, BTC was up 7% at $13.45 per unit. During the next two years, despite the bull run in 2013, BTC did not see Santa rallies. For instance, on Dec. 1, 2013, BTC was trading for $955.85 per coin and by Dec 31, it was 21.11% lower at $754.01 per unit.
2014 saw a 15.57% loss as BTC traded for $379.25 on Dec. 1, and found itself changing hands for $320.19 by the year’s end. The last month of 2015, 2016, and 2017 all saw Santa rallies. In 2015 on Dec. 1, bitcoin was trading for $362.49, but by the year’s end it jumped 18.78% higher as it exchanged hands for $430.57 per unit. Similarly, on Dec. 1, 2016, BTC was trading for $756.77 and by Dec. 31, it was up 27.34% and was swapping for $963.74 per coin.
BTC also saw gains in 2017 when it traded for $10,975.60 per coin on Dec. 1 and then ended the year 28.98% higher at $14,156.40 per BTC. History shows that three out of the four next Decembers saw negative returns. In 2018, BTC swapped for $4,194.39 on Dec. 1, and on Dec. 31, BTC was trading for $3,740.23 losing 10.82% in USD value. The next year on Dec. 1, 2019, bitcoin was trading for $7,449.52 and by the end of the year, it was down 3.13% and traded for $7,216.10 per unit.
2020 was the best bitcoin Santa rally ever recorded as BTC jumped 53% higher during the last month of the year. On Dec. 1, 2020, BTC swapped hands for $18,876.77 per coin and by the year’s end it was up to $28,994.35. At the end of 2021, BTC prices dropped during the last month, sliding 18.92% in USD value during the course of 30 days.
On Dec. 1, 2021, BTC was trading for $57,217.66 per unit and by the month’s end, BTC was down to $46,387.98 per coin. Last month, wasn’t the greatest for BTC as it was up above $20K per unit before FTX collapsed. That specific event sent shockwaves through not only the industry, but it caused crypto markets to drop considerably in fiat value as well.
As of right now on Dec. 25, 2022, it does not seem like a Santa rally is in the cards for bitcoiners but you never know how the year could end. Over the next week, BTC could jump 10% or more higher and end 2022’s dismal bear market with a bang. Or we just might see what we’ve seen during the past few weeks, which is a whole lot of lackluster movements, low volumes since the FTX aftermath subsided, and a great deal of consolidation.
Russian Social Media Giant Vkontakte Launches NFT Service
Russia’s largest social network, Vkontakte, has launched a feature allowing users to upload digital collectibles to the platform. Account holders will also be able to buy and sell them in the future as the company intends to establish a marketplace for non-fungible tokens.
The leading social media network in the Russian-speaking segment, Vkontakte (VK), has introduced an NFT service along with an educational course on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the crypto page of the Russian business news portal RBC reported, quoting the company.
The new features will be available to all users within a few days, VK’s CEO Marina Krasnova and Chief Technology Officer Alexander Tobol announced during a presentation in Moscow. The VK NFT option will allow owners of digital collectibles to transfer them to their accounts.
Furthermore, the tokens can be employed as avatars or presented in a special showcase in the profile. In order to do that, you’ll need to link your crypto wallet to your account. “Our task is to simplify user interaction with NFT and make it truly a mass technology,” Krasnova commented.
VK will also establish an NFT hub where news, announcements, market analytics, and case studies can be shared. The platform’s team will use the space to communicate with the NFT community, exchange ideas and search for potential partners, the report detailed.
Vkontakte plans to launch its own NFT collection in January 2023, and a full-fledged NFT marketplace at a later stage to offer users an opportunity to purchase and resell collectibles. The social media giant wants to integrate the technology into its other products as well, such as gaming and gifts.
Russian authorities have been mulling over proposals to expand the legal framework for crypto assets to cover more related activities and products. A report in July revealed that the Ministry of Economy is working on amendments to regulate the NFT space. In September, Russia’s largest bank, Sber, announced its intentions to allow users of its proprietary blockchain platform to issue NFTs.
Robert Kiyosaki: I’m Still Bullish on Bitcoin — Crypto Cannot Be Blamed for FTX Collapse
The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, is still bullish on bitcoin despite the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. He stressed that the cryptocurrency cannot be blamed for the actions of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, discussed the FTX collapse and bitcoin with guest Mark Moss on the Rich Dad Radio Show which aired earlier this week.
Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. Moss is a radio host and the author of “Uncommunist Manifesto.”
After listening to Moss outlining the problems at FTX and numerous fraudulent actions allegedly conducted by its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), Kiyosaki emphasized:
I’m still bullish on bitcoin … Bitcoin is not the same as Sam Bankman-Fried. It’s not bitcoin, it’s FTX that’s the problem.
Kiyosaki noted that bitcoin cannot be blamed for the fall of FTX and Bankman-Fried in the same way one cannot blame silver if silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are mismanaged. He revealed that he owns a lot of silver and gold but does not have any silver or gold ETFs.
The famous author called FTX “one of the biggest scams in history.” He additionally described: “FTX is a Ponzi scheme where they depended upon the funds from the next stupid investors to finance it.” Despite the FTX fiasco and the subsequent crypto market sell-offs, Kiyosaki reiterated:
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, I’m still in favor of bitcoin. I’m not against it as many people in my age group are because I think bitcoin is solid.
Kiyosaki has also been warning about the U.S. economy. On Friday, he tweeted: “The world economy is not a ‘market.’ I believe [the] economy is the biggest bubble in world history.”
The renowned author has cautioned on several occasions that stock, bond, and real estate markets are all crashing. He has urged investors to buy cryptocurrency now before the biggest crash in world history happens.
Last week, Kiyosaki similarly said that bitcoin isn’t the problem in the meltdown of FTX. He called Bankman-Fried the Bernie Madoff of crypto. He also recently clarified that he’s a bitcoin investor, not a trader, and he gets excited when BTC hits a new bottom.
‘FTX Accounts Drainer’ Offloads 50,000 ETH, Entity Uses Ren’s Bitcoin Gateway to Acquire BTC
The ethereum wallet known as the “FTX Accounts Drainer” has started to offload the ethereum it collected this past week after becoming the 27th largest ether address. On Nov. 19, 2022, the wallet held 250,735 ether, but by 7:44 a.m. (ET) on Nov. 20, the “FTX Accounts Drainer” transferred roughly 50,000 ether out of the wallet. By leveraging Ren’s bitcoin gateway, the entity has been swapping out the ethereum in exchange for bitcoin.
The wallet known as “FTX Accounts Drainer” has dropped from the 27th largest ethereum wallet position to the 37th position after unloading roughly 50,000 ether worth around $58.3 million on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. The day prior, Bitcoin News reported on the wallet becoming the 27th largest ether wallet after it consolidated more than 250,000 ETH.
Onchain analysis indicates that “FTX Accounts Drainer” has sent the 50,000 ethereum through Ren’s bitcoin gateway, a platform that tokenizes bitcoin (BTC) on the Ethereum blockchain. The “FTX Accounts Drainer’s” identity is currently unknown as some believe it’s a malicious entity, others believe it’s a former FTX executive, and some people believe it may be a white hat hacker.
The entity’s other address, which holds over 100 ERC20 tokens, has remained untouched for a week now and it’s worth roughly $189 million. Choosing to offload through Ren’s bitcoin gateway indicates that the user wants to get bitcoin in exchange for the ether. Using Ren instead of swapping into WBTC was likely chosen because WBTC is managed by Bitgo.
The Renvm protocol is more decentralized as it can mint tokens that represent non-Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies. While tokenized BTC products like WBTC are popular, RENBTC is a lot less liquid in comparison.
While Official Figures Claim Turkey’s Inflation Rate Is 85%, Third-Party Stats Say It’s Closer to 200%
Inflation has skyrocketed in Turkey as official figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (Tüik) show the country’s inflation rate topped 85.5% year-on-year. The inflation rate in Turkey has risen for 17 consecutive months and last month it reached a 24-year high.
Turkey, the transcontinental country located in Western Asia has been suffering from financial hardship as the region’s economy is in dire straits. On Nov. 3, 2022, the Turkish Statistical Institute (Tüik) published the country’s official inflation rate figures and stats show the rate reached 85.5% year-on-year.
Reports further indicate that the cost of living in Turkey has risen dramatically and the Tüik report shows that food prices in Turkey climbed 99% higher year-on-year. Housing and rent jumped by 85% for Turkish residents. On Oct. 20, 2022, Turkey’s central bank and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut the region’s benchmark bank rate by 150 basis points (bps).
It was the third consecutive month of cuts according to stats and Erdogan explained in September that interest was an enemy. “My biggest battle is against interest. My biggest enemy is interest,” Erdogan stated in late September. He also noted at the time that the interest rate needs to “come down further” despite the red-hot inflation.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also urged Turkey to raise the country’s benchmark rate. Reports say that delegation was sent from the IMF to Ankara and Istanbul to get people from both the public and private sectors to find a solution to Turkey’s economic turmoil.
“Policy rate cuts in late 2021 added to existing vulnerabilities and were followed by lira depreciation and high inflation,” the IMF said. “The mission recommended early policy rate hikes accompanied by moves to strengthen the central bank’s independence. Such moves would help reduce inflation more durably.
Despite the Turkish Statistical Institute’s official inflation numbers, third-party figures tell a whole different story. Economists stemming from the Inflation Research Group (Enag) detail that Turkey’s annual increase in inflation is closer to 185.5%. Researchers say the Enag Inflation Index has dynamic attributes that adjust more quickly to changes in Turkish consumption habits.
An Unknown Miner Commands More Than 51% of BSV’s Hashpower, Consecutive Strings of Empty Blocks Makes Chain Unreliable
A single miner has managed to overtake a large portion of the Bitcoinsv (Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision) blockchain capturing more than 80% of the hashrate on October 17. Today, the unknown miner’s hashpower commands around 54% of the Bitcoinsv’s computational power and during the last seven days, the stealth miner captured 64.5%.
Bitcoinsv (BSV) has been dealing with an unknown miner trolling the project by mining empty blocks, and capturing a great majority of hashpower. Statistics from Coin Dance indicate that the miner captured 80% of the hashrate between October 17 and 18, 2022.
Interestingly, the unknown miner took over the blockchain’s hashrate during the defamation trial between Craig Wright, the man who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, and the pseudonymous Bitcoiner Hodlonaut. Wright lost the lawsuit and Hodlonaut was acquitted of all claims related to the defamation case.
The self-proclaimed Satoshi, otherwise known as Craig Wright, was also ordered to pay $348,257 to compensate Hodlonaut’s court expenses. While the court case was not yet decided, the unknown miner ramped up its hashrate efforts a few days before the lawsuit ended.
Instead of mining blocks with tens of thousands of transactions, the miner chose to mine near-empty blocks making the blockchain unusable for long periods of time. The BSV miner leverages the BSV address “1KPST” and to date the miner has managed to mine 31,111 BSV.
While writing this article, at 8:30 a.m. (ET), the unknown BSV miner captured the last six blocks and each block subsidy has only one transaction (Block 762,740 to Block 762,745). The recent attack against BSV is not the blockchain’s first rodeo with a malicious miner trolling the project.
In mid-July 2021, crypto exchanges halted BSV deposits after 78% of the BSV hashrate was captured that month. During the first week of August 2021, the network was brought to its knees when a miner 51% attacked the Bitcoinsv chain. On Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the BSV network endured a 100 block reorg “wiping out 570K transactions,” according to the founder of Blockchair, Nikita Zhavoronkov.
On October 17, 2022, when the unknown miner captured around 80% of the network, the organization behind the BSV project called the Bitcoin Association, said that it planned to take action against the stealth miner.
“Bitcoin Association is taking action to contact all relevant exchanges and miners to freeze all block rewards associated with this malicious miner and will be pursuing criminal charges against the entity/entities responsible,” the Bitcoin Association wrote.
The Bitcoin Association’s (BA) message further notes that it has been tracking the miner for months, and the increased presence has caused “network problems for honest miners and businesses that interact” with the Bitcoinsv network.
In the same blog post update, BA insists that “producing an empty block is not inherently a dishonest act per the rules set forth in the whitepaper.” The same day, BA also tweeted out an article hosted on bitcoinsv that claims “mining empty blocks hurts the Bitcoin network.”
On October 23, the native crypto asset bitcoinsv (BSV) is down 3% in value against the U.S. dollar and 1.8% against bitcoin (BTC). Year-to-date, the token BSV has lost 72.7% against the greenback and BSV is 90.5% down from the all-time high recorded on April 16, 2021.
During the last 24 hours, BSV has seen $25.19 million in global trade volume and a great deal of trades stem from South Korea. The Korean won today represents 46.68% of BSV’s global trading pairs according to cryptocompare data. Tether (USDT) is BSV’s second-largest trading pair with 35.69% of all BSV trades, followed by usd coin (USDC) with 8.45% of BSV swaps.
Interest in Russian Crypto Channels on Telegram Declining, Analysis Shows
Russians have been losing interest in Telegram channels devoted to cryptocurrencies and tokens, according to new research covering the period since the start of the war in Ukraine. Industry experts behind the study say that bitcoin’s lower valuation and financial restrictions increasingly limiting access to the crypto market are the key reasons.
Interest in crypto-related channels on the popular messenger Telegram has diminished in the past few months. Between late February and the end of September, their average daily audience decreased by 38%, according to Crypto Provider Agency (CPA), a company specializing in launching and developing Telegram platforms for the Russian-speaking market.
The firm’s researchers recently told the Russian news outlet RBC Crypto that general interest in digital currencies dropped sharply in early May, when the price of the leading crypto by market cap, bitcoin (BTC), fell from $39,000 to around $28,000 per coin. They were able to establish that after studying over 100 leading Telegram channels about cryptocurrencies.
The report further notes that the largest increase in the audience of these channels in 2021 and early 2022 was mainly due to the influx of newcomers to the crypto space. But the decision of payment processors Visa and Mastercard to pull out of Russia as part of Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine cut off a large number of users from exchanges and wallets.
These are the people who were ready to try crypto by converting a small amount of fiat, the CPA pointed out. The company now expects the latest EU sanctions against Russia, which targeted crypto assets among other measures, to exacerbate the trend. Brussels recently banned the provision of all related services to Russian nationals, residents, and companies.
UK Regulator: Crypto Firms Undeterred by Strict Regulation — ‘They Know We Have a Good System’
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain’s top financial regulator, has revealed that many crypto firms are still seeking licenses to operate in the U.K. despite failing to meet regulatory requirements the first time. “They know we have a good system of regulation and if they meet our standards that’s important for every jurisdiction that they seek to apply for around the world,” said the regulator.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) executive director for competition and consumers, Sheldon Mills, talked about cryptocurrency regulation at a City & Financial conference Thursday.
British lawmakers and the crypto industry have criticized the country’s top financial regulator for being slow in processing license applications and for rejecting many applicants despite the government previously stating that it wants to make the U.K. a global hub for crypto assets.
Mills explained that crypto companies are not deterred by strict licensing requirements, noting that many of them are reapplying for a license to operate in the U.K. even after being rejected the first time. “It’s no surprise that I still see many crypto firms still seeking to get licenses here in the U.K. even though some have been denied those licenses at the first pass,” she said, elaborating:
They know we have a good system of regulation and if they meet our standards that’s important for every jurisdiction that they seek to apply for around the world.
“That is a benefit to the U.K. economy and U.K. financial service industry, and is good for competition, inward investment, and growth,” Mills added, noting that 95 people have been hired to join the FCA’s licensing team and the number of pending applications has fallen by 40%.
The FCA previously said that 90% of crypto firms seeking a license to operate in the U.K. have either withdrawn their applications or been refused because they could not meet the standards.
Mills emphasized:
Over time, we expect faster, better decisions will support us in bringing down the costs of the regulatory system.
Crypto regulation may be undergoing changes in the U.K. under the new prime minister, Liz Truss. Several key officials who previously worked on the country’s crypto policy resigned from government before she took office, including Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen.
The British government introduced the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill in the House of Commons last week. It “aims to strengthen the U.K.’s fight against economic crime,” the government detailed. In May, the U.K. government outlined its plans to support crypto adoption and confirmed its commitment to regulate stablecoins.
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While the US Dollar Tramples the Euro, Pound and Yen, Russia’s Ruble Skyrockets Against the Greenback
While the U.S. dollar has soared in value against a basket of worldwide fiat currencies, Russia’s ruble climbed 4.5% against the greenback this week. During the first week of September, Russia told the press China would pay for natural gas with rubles and yuan. Moreover, Switzerland’s imports of Russian gold reached a high not seen since April 2020.
This week the U.S. Dollar Currency Index (DXY) skyrocketed to new heights leaving a great number of fiat currencies worldwide badly bruised. For instance, two days ago, the European Union’s euro tapped a 20-year low against the U.S. dollar dropping to $0.973 on Friday.
Presently, the euro is even lower at $0.9690, and it is down 2.82% against the greenback during the past 30 days. 30-day statistics indicate the yen is down 4.72%, the sterling pound shed 8.17%, and the Canadian dollar lost 4.78%. The Chinese yuan breached a 7:1 exchange rate against the U.S. dollar for the first time in two years.
However, Russia’s native fiat currency the ruble has been more resilient this year, and it started to see gains a month after the start of the Ukraine-Russia war. Toward the end of June, Russia’s ruble tapped a seven-year high against the U.S. dollar, and at the time economists said “don’t ignore the [ruble’s] exchange rate.”
This Friday, while America’s native fiat currency climbed to new heights against various currencies worldwide, the ruble climbed 4.5% against the USD. The ruble managed to do this while the DXY breached a 20-year high following the Federal Reserve’s recent rate hike. The rising ruble follows Russian president Vladimir Putin explaining earlier this week that he vows to use “all means available” to win the war with Ukraine.
There were also hints of nuclear retaliation from the Russian president, and he detailed he was mobilizing more troops. Additionally, Reuters reported during the first week of September that China would be purchasing fuel from Russia with rubles and yuan payments.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told the press at the time that China paying in rubles and yuan rather than dollars was “mutually beneficial” for both partners. Furthermore, reports indicate that the Swiss Federal Customs Administration revealed Switzerland imported 5.7 tons of Russia’s gold reserves in August. The stash was worth roughly $324 million, and the Swiss have not purchased a cache that size in over two years.
The country’s customs department, however, claims that the Russian gold originally stemmed from Britain, and it further stressed that no financial sanctions were violated. Switzerland fully denied breaking any sanctions and said the 5.7 tons of bullion was originally shipped from the U.K. back in May.
While the ruble’s exchange rate against the greenback has dropped a hair, it remains at 56.87 per dollar, at the time of writing on Sunday, September 25, 2022. While 30-day stats show the euro is currently down 2.82% against the U.S. dollar, the Russian ruble is up 4.32% this month.
Investing Geoffrey Smith says the surge for cash derived from Russians withdrawing massive amounts of money from their savings accounts. Smith further claims “Russians emptied their savings accounts in the wake of Wednesday’s mobilization call by President Vladimir Putin.”
He noted, however, that the surge in Friday’s ruble withdrawals was not nearly as large as the ruble withdrawals recorded last February. “The rise in demand for rubles led to a squeeze in interbank ruble rates, pushing the currency up in a market,” Smith wrote on Friday.
