Market Wrap: Bitcoin, ETH and Stocks Seesaw Following Ukraine Invasion

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sent cryptocurrency and stock markets into a tailspin early Thursday. But as the full extent of the military assault became clear, investors jumped back in, driving a powerful recovery.

US President Joe Biden, who had repeatedly warned an invasion was imminent, said Russia would bear the consequences of “an assault on the people of Ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity.”

Biden imposed a raft of new sanctions to “limit Russia’s ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen, to be part of the global economy.” The sanctions were purposely designed “to maximize a long-term impact on Russia and to minimize impact on the United States and our allies,” Biden added.

As traders in the US parsed the news, the S&P 500 plunged, starting the day nearly 2.5% down. Alongside other indices, it recovered later and ended trading up 1.5%. The Nasdaq and Dow likewise first declined before paring losses. The Nasdaq ended the day with a notable 3.44% increase.

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Bitcoin started the day down as much as 7.5% but managed to end stock trading hours up by 3.5%. Ether was even more volatile, dropping by as much as 10.5% before closing up 2.22%.

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Top stories

Story: Bitcoin’s Initial Plunge on Ukraine Invasion Undermines Status as ‘Digital Gold’

• Increasing institutional investment in bitcoin tightens its correlation with stock movements
• Lack of understanding of bitcoin’s fundamental properties may be hindering its adoption as a risk management tool

Story: Aligned Raises $34M To Grow DeFi and Web3 Infrastructure

• The capital will be used to grow its core products for Ethereum-compatible blockchains like layer-2 networks
• Aligned’s founder is the former chief strategy officer at ConsenSys

Story: Blockchain Infrastructure Provider InfStones Closes $33M Series B

• InfStones supports nodes on over 50 chains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Polkadot, Cardano and Chainlink
• The platform’s customers include Binance, Dune Analytics, Polygon, Circle and Compound

Story: Bitcoin, Risk Assets Falter Even as US GDP Rises

• Economists warn 2022 will not see the same economic growth as 2021
• US GDP increased at a 7% annualized rate in the fourth quarter

Going forward

New core and PCE inflation metrics are due out Friday. It's uncertain how the Fed plans to alter interest rates should markets continue falling from the conflict in Eastern Europe.

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