Market Wrap: Stocks, Cryptos Fall as US Looks For New Ways to Punish Putin

Equity and crypto markets fell Friday as President Joe Biden announced the US, the European Union and G7 members are planning to remove Russia's "most favored" nation trading status.

The move widens bans on Russian imports to additional goods, including vodka and seafood.

In a press briefing, Biden said the switch in Russia's trade status "would be another crushing blow to the Russian economy." Biden added: "It's already suffering very badly from our sanctions."

Biden reiterated that the US would defend NATO, but that a direct conflict between NATO and Russia would result in a new world war.

"I want to be clear: We will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full might of a united and galvanized NATO," Biden said. "But we will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III. And something we must strive to prevent."

So far, Russia seems indifferent to the economic strife. The country even increased its push through Ukraine by striking airfields in the west and a major industrial city in the east, lowering hopes that the conflict could end diplomatically.

The invasion continues to make markets highly volatile. The S&P 500 fell by 1.3% Friday, while the Nasdaq and Dow dropped by 2.13% and 0.69%, respectively.

[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"]

Cryptocurrencies also slid, with bitcoin falling by 2.09% and ether dropping by 2.08% by the end of stock trading.

THORchain, a decentralized liquidity protocol, was crypto’s biggest gainer of the day among the top 100 coins by market capitalization, with a 9.27% gain.

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

Top stories

Story: Report: 50% of NFT Holders Have Lost Access to Their NFTs

• MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Math Wallet are the most commonly used wallets
• 16% of respondents said their accounts on NFT platforms had been previously hacked

Story: Pro-crypto Candidate Yoon Suk Yeol Wins South Korea’s Presidency

• Liberal Party candidate Yoon Suk Yeol has clinched a victory over political rival Lee Jae-Myung in a narrow race
• Pundits hope Yoon will pave the way for a new era of crypto deregulation in the country following campaign promises to do so

Story: Juno Network Stakeholders To Decide Fate of Whale’s Millions in a Crypto First

• If the whale abruptly pulled out their funds — currently worth about $122 million — they could single-handedly wipe out JUNO liquidity on decentralized exchanges
• The proposal, if passed, could set an “interesting” and “potentially dangerous” precedent, a community member named Kavaskous on Twitter said

Story: New Planned ETF Targets NFT-related Stocks

• The filing comes as the SEC rejected proposed spot bitcoin ETFs from fund issuers NYDIG and Global X Thursday
• Exchange Traded Concepts launched the Fount Metaverse ETF in October

Going forward

Markets are likely to be volatile going forward as the Ukraine-Russia conflict intensifies. The mid-March Federal Reserve meeting, where the regulator plans to reveal its interest rate plan, will take place next week.

---

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

• Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
• Empire: Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross.
• Forward Guidance: Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin.
• 0xResearch: Get alpha directly in your inbox — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.
• Lightspeed: All things Solana, in your inbox, every day from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.
• The Drop: The newsletter for crypto collectors and traders, covering games, tokens, apps, memes and more.