Last night the Russian army began bombing the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, and other cities.
The beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine
The pretext used by Putin to justify the aggression is said to be to try to annihilate the Ukrainian army in order to prevent it from intervening in Donbass, but by now almost no one believes Putin‘s words.
The attack on the Ukrainian capital, many hundreds of kilometres from the Donbass, reveals Putin‘s real ambitions, namely the conquest and occupation of Ukraine.
The financial markets took the news badly, so much so that all Asian markets, which had already been open for several hours, fell sharply.
European markets have also opened sharply lower today, and it is expected that US markets may do the same.
Crypto markets affected by Ukraine attack
The price of Bitcoin has fallen to just above $34,000, which is actually higher than it was a month ago. Therefore, this was not a collapse, but merely a return to the situation at the end of January. It also did not fall below the trend line of the all-time low.
All crypto markets are suffering badly today, with Bitcoin losing less than many other cryptocurrencies. In fact, its dominance on CoinGecko has risen to 41% today, while in recent days it had stabilized at around 40%.
The future of the war between Russia and Ukraine
The real problem, however, is not only the start of the war, but in particular its possible continuation.
There is no certainty that it will remain confined to Ukraine.
Putin has explicitly stated that there will be unprecedented repercussions for all those who dare to help Ukraine defend itself, in fact even making a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons.
At the moment Ukraine seems to be receiving aid from some NATO countries, but there are still no foreign troops on the Ukrainian front.
A few days ago Putin spoke to the nation about the glorious old Russian empire, which also included Ukraine and Belarus, and at the moment there is speculation that an attempt is being made to rebuild it. It seems that Putin wants to annex the whole of Ukraine to Russia, but the other European countries do not agree.
If the war remains confined to Ukraine, it is possible that the financial markets are already suffering the serious and inevitable consequences, but if it were to spread, the situation would become even more worrying.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2022/02/24/russia-attacks-ukraine-financial-markets-plunge/