Bitcoin dives to three-week lows as gold nears $2,000 on Russia-Ukraine tensions.
Volatility had been high as Russian president Vladimir Putin delivered a speech lasting almost an hour on the state of the conflict in Ukraine. Putin had ended by recognizing the two breakaway republics in the country's east, subsequently ordering Russian troops into what is still officially Ukrainian territory.
Stocks and risk assets fell as a result, with Russian companies predictably suffering as nerves over fullscale war escalated. The Russian ruble fell in tandem, passing the 80 per dollar mark and encroaching on its record lows of 85.6 from 2016. Sanctions from the West were expected later on the day, likely fuelling further losses.
A surprise winner was gold, which managed to avoid losses to shore up its safe-haven status — unlike Bitcoin.reacted"Digital gold has plummeted to $1900/oz. Correlation between digital & analog Gold is now even neg. Narrative that digital Gold is better way to escape has not panned out in Ukraine."Year-to-date, XAU/USD was up over 6% at the time of writing, while BTC/USD traded down 23%.
"It’s actually great to see that Gold is doing really well in these times of heavy uncertainties, crawling upwards, while risk-on assets like stocks and Bitcoin are having a hard time," Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe nonetheless