The role of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) has taken a centre stage during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the light of helping both refugees in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and Russian oligarchs trying to find a way to get around the sanctions that the West is trying to strangle them with. In the light of this, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya takes a nuanced approach to the whole situation.
Both BTC and USD Winning: Chamath Palihapitiya
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya does feel like Bitcoin (BTC) is the only winner amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis despite the conflict that has thrust the flagship cryptocurrency into the spotlight. Instead, ‘BTC and USD are both winning right now’, according to him. https://twitter.com/chamath/status/1500682398702333956 Chamath’s comments perhaps stem from the fact that the U.S. dollar jumped to its highest level in nearly two years while the Russian ruble plummeted to an all-time low against the US dollar after the latter launched an invasion of Ukraine. As of Feb. 24, the dollar index rose 0.869% and was on pace for its biggest daily percentage gain since March 2020, when the U.S markets were under the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19. In fact, the greenback reached a high of 97.740 against a basket of major currencies, its highest since June 30, 2020. The venture capitalist further went ahead to say that Bitcoin (BTC) is positioning itself as an institutional-grade safe haven in comparison to other cryptocurrencies while the US-dominated assets have placed itself to the top in comparison to assets in other currencies.
“When BTC falls, other cryptos fall more. When US assets fall, other non-US denominated assets/currencies get smoked,” Chamath concluded.
