Bitcoin price: Why is crypto down today? Crypto news and prices of BTC, Ethereum, Solana as Russia invades Ukraine

Bitcoin’s price has fallen today as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shakes markets – here’s the latest crypto news and prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu coin, XRP and more today
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Bitcoin’s price has fallen even lower after the cryptocurrency market dipped into a crash this week as the toll of increased conflict in Europe and Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine saw markets fall worldwide.

The cryptocurrency market is currently down by more than 10% on Thursday morning, as of 11.20am UK time, according to Coinbase.

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After a continued lull for Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, it now looks to be approaching a $30,000 threshold today (Thursday February 24) should market dips continue.

Bitcoin price: Why is crypto down today? Crypto news and prices of BTC, Ethereum, Solana as Russia invades Ukraine (Image credit: Getty Images/Canva Pro)Bitcoin price: Why is crypto down today? Crypto news and prices of BTC, Ethereum, Solana as Russia invades Ukraine (Image credit: Getty Images/Canva Pro)
Bitcoin price: Why is crypto down today? Crypto news and prices of BTC, Ethereum, Solana as Russia invades Ukraine (Image credit: Getty Images/Canva Pro)

As of 11.34am on Thursday, Bitcoin’s price was fluctuating at around $34,966.62 (£26,080.62) in a 10.23% fall on the last 24 hours, and a 19% fall on the last seven days, according to Coinbase.

The cryptocurrency market has been struggling to return to highs reached in late 2021 as inflation, looming conflict in Europe and global market uncertainty over crypto risks continue to push crypto price thresholds lower.

The crypto market dip, reflecting a fall on the FTSE 100, comes as Russia increases its attacks on Ukraine and launched a full scale invasion of the country, as the EU, UK and US propose further sanctions on the country.

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NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that Russia has launched missile attacks targeting Ukraine’s military infrastructure in an "unjustified and unprovoked" attack on the country.

"This is a deliberate, cold-blooded and long planned invasion," he added.

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The downward slide in crypto prices suggests that the crash which saw prices plummet in early January, as Kazakhstan’s crypto mining empire took a hit during political unrest, could be set to continue amid a wider market sell-off.

Here’s why crypto is down today, what’s happening to crypto at the moment and the latest prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, XRP, Shiba Inu coin and Dogecoin.

What is Bitcoin’s price today?

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Bitcoin’s price is currently trading at $35,452.90 (£26,417.69) in a 9% fall on the last 24 hours as of 11.58am, according to Coinbase.

Bitcoin has been fluctuating between $36,000 and $38,000 in value this week after falling from its $40,000 threshold again on Sunday February 20.

But in the early hours of Thursday morning, Bitcoin’s price dropped from $36,887.71 at 2.30am to $34,787.94 at 4.30am, with this plunging even lower later this morning as its price dropped to $34,322 at 5.45am.

According to data collected by CoinMarketCap, however, Bitcoin is seeing increased trading activity – with its 24 hour trading volume up 55.6% as of 12.03pm on Thursday at $37,439,624,337 as investors buy the dip.

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Over the past few weeks, Bitcoin’s price has been fluctuating mostly between $40,000 and $45,000 – hitting a recent high of $52,100 on December 27.

The major cryptocurrency’s price has seen recent gains of almost $20,000 wiped off the board for Bitcoin after it came the closest it ever has to reaching a new landmark threshold of $70,000 in November.

Why is crypto down today?

Bitcoin’s price enjoyed a bullish rise to near $70,000 in value in early November as investors hoped to see the cryptocurrency’s $1 trillion market cap remain firmly in place ahead of a volatile trading period.

But its plummet below $50,000 came in late 2021 as US and UK markets struggled to contend with increased concerns over increasing inflation and looming conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

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Such concerns have now come to a head with Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday February 24 2022, with fears for global market stability, national security and Ukraine’s safety taking hold as oil prices surge, traditional markets drop and more sanctions on Russia are to be declared.

Bitcoin’s price dipped below $40,000 on Friday January 21 after the Russian central bank published a consultation paper which warned that ‘growth of cryptocurrencies use creates threats for Russian retail investors, financial stability and threats associated with the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit activities’.

The report cited estimates that cryptocurrency transactions among Russian citizens totals up to $5 billion a year.

In particular, the report focused on the threats of cryptocurrency’s high volatility and instability for individual citizens, as well as its fraudulent and criminal usage.

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However, the Russian central bank also likened the global growth of cryptocurrencies in Russia to ‘dollarisation’, stating that ‘cryptoisation limits monetary policy sovereignty, which might force central bank to permanently maintain a higher key rate to contain inflation’.

It added that ‘the spread of cryptocurrencies could make people withdraw their savings from the Russian financial sector and, subsequently, decrease its capability to finance the real sector and potential economic growth reducing the number of jobs and potential for household income increase.’

Meanwhile, the UK Government outlined a tougher approach to crypto-asset promotion and advertising in a statement in mid-January.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Cryptoassets can provide exciting new opportunities, offering people new ways to transact and invest – but it’s important that consumers are not being sold products with misleading claims.

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"We are ensuring consumers are protected, while also supporting innovation of the cryptoasset market.”

On Monday January 24, US market analysts warned that the rise in inflation could see the US Federal Open Market Committee take faster, earlier action in coming months to tighten US monetary policy – prompting fears in traditional and cryptocurrency markets to take hold in another huge sell-off.

Cryptocurrency market prices today

With cryptocurrencies often moving in tandem with Bitcoin, Ethereum, the cryptocurrency synonymous with the rising crypto trend of NFTs, was trading down by

more than 11% on Thursday after hitting a new record high of almost $5,000 in early November.

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Ethereum’s price has dipped further below its previous $3,000 threshold and was trading at $2,388.18 (£1,779.49) at 11.43am on Thursday, in a further 11.14% fall on the last 24 hours.

The hype surrounding popular memecoin Dogecoin has likewise been fluctuating in recent months as new alt and meme coins have stolen the spotlight.

Dogecoin’s price was trading down by more than 17% on the last 24 hours at $0.11 (£0.08) on Thursday morning.

Shiba Inu coin, the so-called ‘Dogecoin killer’, was trading almost 20% down on the last 24 hours at $0.00002170 (£0.00001620) as of 11.46am on Thursday.

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Meanwhile, Cardano’s (ADA) price is fluctuating around $0.76 (£0.57) in 18.56% fall on the last 24 hours, XRP was down 13.19% at $0.64 (£0.47) and Solana was down by 12.7% at $81.20 (£60.60) as of 11.47am on Thursday.

When was the last crypto crash?

In June, the Chinese Government cracked down on considerable crypto mining operations taking place in the Sichuan province and demanded that Chinese banks and payment channels stop supporting decentralised and anonymous crypto transactions.

This saw Bitcoin prices tumble to below $30,000 in a dramatic plummet from its soaring success.

The cryptocurrency has continued to rise and fall as other global administrations and regulators mull legislation to curb increased crypto activity often attributed to laundering and crime.

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Following the Chinese state’s move, countries like South Korea also pledged to tackle the rise in money laundering taking place via cryptocurrency, while the Metropolitan Police announced that it had successfully closed in on a huge UK cryptocurrency money-laundering operation.

July saw the Met seize a cryptocurrency operation valued at £180million in the UK’s largest cryptocurrency seizure to date.

Cryptocurrency exchange platforms such as Binance have since been feeling the heat across the world as regulators and governments began to turn the screws on the operations of such platforms in the wake of crypto’s global crackdown.

The result of this saw Bitcoin’s highest prices sliced in half in June, with the coin struggling to break out of the low to mid $30k price range until it received a welcome boost from Tesla CEO Elon Musk in his appearance at major Bitcoin conference in July.

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The bullish rise and increased confidence in Bitcoin could see it remain at prices fluctuating between $60,000 and $70,000 in future, but with increased resistance as it lurches further away from a previous $100,000 price prediction for 2022.

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