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

Bitcoin started the day down as much as 7.5% after news broke that Russia had invaded Ukraine

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Russia’s assault on Ukraine shocked traders, and investors aggressively sold off positions early Thursday
  • Cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether, surged alongside stocks late in the trading day

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.

[stock_market_widget type="accordion" template="chart" color="#5B35D5" assets="^GSPC,^IXIC,^DJI" start_expanded="true" display_currency_symbol="false" api="yf" chart_range="1mo" chart_interval="1d"]

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%.

[stock_market_widget type="accordion" template="chart" color="#5B35D5" assets="BTC-USD,ETH-USD" start_expanded="true" display_currency_symbol="true" api="yf" chart_range="1mo" chart_interval="1d"]

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.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (15).png

Research

A spot listing on Binance can support highly favorable short term returns. Tokens that TGE on Binance exhibit lower short term returns when compared to tokens that receive the listing after TGE. Both spot and futures listings support higher returns, while a spot listing is historically more favorable. Tokens that have yet to receive a Binance spot listing may be trading at a 30-50% discount to their market value upon receiving a Binance spot listing.

article-image

Stablecoins have emerged as crypto’s killer app, and the data shows that they still have room to run

article-image

Sponsored

Unmatched security, unparalleled performance, unwavering commitment

article-image

Coinbase Institutional’s David Duong looked at how crypto performed in January and explains where crypto’s growing

article-image

SOL could see sell pressure from locked FTX tokens and Grayscale Trust shares

article-image

The 12 points are nothing new, but they may be helpful to lawmakers and regulators needing a refresher on priorities

article-image

About 70% of those surveyed believe crypto supervisory scrutiny remains just as intense