Russian oil companies are using Tether to convert Chinese yuan and Indian rupees to Russian roubles to make the transaction process smoother. This bypasses Western sanctions and establishes a more independent way to conduct cross-border transactions. Anton Siluanov, Finance Minister, said the changes started to take effect after the legal framework was amended in August 2024, allowing mining companies to transact with cryptocurrency. This was done to overcome trade disruptions caused by Western sanctions and the US war in Ukraine. A Chinese buyer, for example, pays a banker offshore in exchange for Russian oil. The banker then converts the money into crypto and sends it to Russia, where it is finally converted into roubles. An anonymous source for Reuters claims that transactions like this occur every month for tens of millions in dollars. The source claims to be familiar with the process and has seen it take place. Fiat currency, however, remains the main medium for Russian oil trade despite numerous sanctions from Western countries. Russia, meanwhile, has been using multiple methods to bias sanctions, including using other currencies, such as the United Arab Emirates dirham, to make large-scale cross-border payments. China has remained cautious of cryptocurrencies despite Russia using stablecoins for cross-border payments. In 2021, the country essentially banned digital assets from the mainland. However, Hong Kong has embraced the new technology and even become a global hub for digital asset innovation. Russia has embraced crypto cautiously. This week, it created an Experimental Legal Regime (ELR), allowing a limited group of wealthy investors to trade cryptocurrencies for three years. Crypto-based cross-border payments in Russia only constitute a small fraction of the $192 billion oil trade; however, this shows the practicable use of crypto in avoiding large-scale sanctions. Other countries like Iran and Venezuela, have also used similar strategies to avoid external sanctions. Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general, was designed from the start to resist censorship, and thus proved to be quite an effective technology in facilitating payments. The Ukraine conflict was a catalyst for this change in global payment processes, revealing a lack of consistency regarding sanctions and providing a new use case for the digital assets market. America will most likely monitor these blockchain transactions to see whether they continue to challenge traditional forms of finance and hegemony. Russia may emerge from this conflict as a major contributor to digital asset technology, inspiring other nations to use similar means and regaining economic stability in uncertain times. Regulatory barriers continue to block cryptocurrency despite a strong case for Blockchain technology and a noticeable weakness regarding traditional reserves as a method to enable cross-border trade in a safe, reliable, and timely manner. Russia has made efforts to adopt the BRICS payment system and has attempted to adopt the currencies of trading partners, but alas, it has continued to fall back on using dollars, euros, and the SWIFT standard for transactions. Trading partners, like China, are therefore exposed to the secondary effects of Western sanctions, limiting trade opportunities for the two countries. In August 2024, Russia expanded its mining regulation, requiring industrial miners to register with a government database, comply with consumption restrictions, and report ongoing operations. The regulation also included the use of Russian-mined cryptocurrency to facilitate foreign transactions, cross-border operations, and international settlements. One of BRICS’ strategies is for member states to build sovereign technological infrastructure so that they are less reliant on Western technology. BRICS stipulates that members should retain technology control to limit Western hegemony from dominating supply chains. Russia has started embracing sovereign technologies, such as Sberbank launching a digital assets project in 2022, forming part of a larger trade and global independence project. In December 2024, a Russian lawmaker suggested that Bitcoin, due to its decentralized design, should be used to reduce reliance on western international finance systems. He further indicated that a Bitcoin reserve should be created, despite the ongoing criticism of such a reserve. The recent mining legislation, which included a section on cryptocurrency, may be a vital step for Russia to adopt digital asset technology, and it may continue to develop over the coming months and years. After all, Bitcoin may be a useful transition technology, from the preferred American standards, to a new and developing BRICS way of handling transactions. The case for Bitcoin as a Russian reserve currency appeared good in December 2024, as the digital asset continued to see market highs exceeding $100,000. Many see the asset as a tool to provide an extra layer of economic resilience during uncertain times and under the constant threat of global sanctions. Russia may continue to invest in digital asset technology, and more so as Bitcoin adoption rises in popularity.
The ongoing surge in XRP’s price against Ethereum (ETH) has sparked curiosity about a potential shift in market dynamics within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As of March 15, XRP is witnessing
The Terra Luna Classic token is showing signs of bottoming after crashing by over 90% from its all-time high. Terra Luna Classic ( LUNC ) price has found strong support at $0.00005385, where it has failed to drop below since its inception. That is a sign that the coin may be on the cusp of a bullish breakout. You might also like: THORChain ‘eerily similar’ to Terra Luna implosion: Osmosis co-founder Potential catalyst for LUNC price LUNC is hitting a 406 billion token burn milestone. Data shows that the network incinerated over 280 million tokens in the last seven days, bringing the total tokens burned to 406 billion. Over 336.2 billion LUNC tokens have moved to the burn wallet, while almost 70 billion of these coins have been burned on-chain. Most of these burns were from Terraform Labs, which a U.S. bankruptcy court ordered. Binance, the biggest crypto exchange, has also been the most active LUNC burner in the industry. It has burned over 71 billion tokens in the past three years, and has consistently supported all of its upgrades. Meanwhile, more LUNC holders are staking them. That’s an optimistic sign that, perhaps, the token will bounce back. The LUNC staking ratio has risen to 15.85%. That’s its highest level since Nov. 10, 2024. A high staking ratio, especially when a coin is falling, is a highly bullish sign. LUNC price shows bottoming signs Terra Luna Classic price chart | Source: crypto.news The weekly chart shows that the Terra LUNA Classic price dropped to a low of $0.000054 this month. This was a notable level as the coin failed to drop below it in July and September last year. It also failed to move below the price in 2024. The last time LUNC’s price dropped below this level was in June 2022, when it dropped to a low of $0.00003440. This drop turned out to be a false breakdown, too. Therefore, there is a likelihood that the Terra Luna Classic price has formed a quadruple bottom — a popular bullish reversal sign. A bullish breakout may see it jump to the next key resistance at $0.0001797, the highest swing in November last year. This price is about 180% above the current level. A drop below that support level will signal more downside to $0.000034. LUNC’s history The LUNC token, originally known as the Luna token, was created by Do Kwon and Daniel Shin, co-founders of Terraform Labs. Terraform Labs was based in South Korea, and they launched the Luna token as part of the Terra blockchain ecosystem. The project aimed to create a stablecoin (TerraUSD, or UST) through an algorithmic mechanism tied to Luna. After the UST stablecoin de-pegged from the U.S. dollar in May 2022, the value of Luna (now LUNC after a rebranding) crashed. This led to a massive loss in value and the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. Afterward, a hard fork was created, leading to the introduction of Terra 2.0, and a new token was issued to replace the old one. Read more: LUNC price could soar as Terra Luna burns 1.34b tokens
XRP ( XRP ) price versus Ether ( ETH ) reached its highest level in five years over the weekend, extending its recovery. On March 15, the XRP/ETH pair touched 0.00128 ETH for the first time since April 2020. That amounts to a 925% rebound when measured from its all-time low of 0.00013 ETH established in June 2024 and approximately 620% gains since November 2024, when Donald Trump won the US presidential election. XRP/ETH weekly price chart. Source: TradingView XRP potential breakout versus ETH The XRP/ETH rally is fueling speculation among market watchers that XRP could flip Ether to become the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. For instance, analyst Dom highlights 0.0012 ETH as a historically significant resistance level, a threshold that has consistently preceded explosive rallies in past cycles. He notes that XRP has gone parabolic after breaking this resistance, delivering gains of at least 160% in previous instances. XRP/ETH 12-hour price charts. Source: TradingView/Dom He illustrated the same with three key breakout points—in early 2017, late 2017, and 2018 when XRP’s surged against Ether following a confirmed breach of the 0.0012 ETH resistance. As of March 16, XRP was once again testing this critical level. If history repeats itself, even a partial rally of 80% would be enough for XRP to flip ETH in market capitalization, DOM suggests, especially as Ether’s price risks more downside in 2025 . Related: XRP price poised for 46% gains after Ripple secures first Dubai license At $138 billion, XRP’s market cap is less than $100 billion short of hitting Ethereum’s. Moreover, XRP’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) briefly surpassed Ethereum's earlier this week. For context, FDV represents the total theoretical value of all tokens, including those not yet in circulation, whereas market capitalization only accounts for tokens currently in circulation. Why is Ethereum underperforming XRP? XRP’s market dominance has grown by over 300% since Trump’s reelection on Nov. 5. XRP.D vs. ETH.D daily price chart. Source: TradingView The same period has witnessed Ethereum losing its market share by over 35.50%, showing a clear lack of interest among traders for Ether compared to other top-ranking crypto assets. A key factor in this divergence is regulatory sentiment. Trump has positioned the US as the future " world’s crypto capital ,” appointing pro-crypto regulators and pledging to foster a more favorable environment. This shift has especially benefited XRP, which caters to enterprise users, particularly as Ripple unveiled an institutional DeFi roadmap in February. Meanwhile, Ethereum has slumped due to rising competition from rival layer-1 blockchains, particularly Solana ( SOL ). The Dencun upgrade in March 2024, which slashed Ethereum’s transaction fees by 95%, was intended to improve scalability. However, it has also reduced ETH burn rates, increasing supply and weakening its deflationary appeal and “ ultrasound money ” narrative. ETH supply rate since the Merge. Source: UltraSound Money At the same time, Solana’s dominance has risen, with its trading volume now rivaling Ethereum and all its layer-2 chains combined. The network’s faster and cheaper transactions have made it the go-to platform for DeFi activity, memecoin trading , and NFT markets, which Ethereum previously dominated. This shift has eroded Ethereum’s market share, particularly among traders and developers seeking high-speed, low-cost transactions. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Bitcoin’s unpredictable price swings could lead to a significant market shift, as analysts weigh the cryptocurrency’s future amidst increasing volatility. Even with bearish forecasts, Bitcoin maintains a solid position, currently
Could Bitcoin’s volatile swings soon unleash a surprising breakout?
South Korea’s Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo has asked his U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer to exempt the country from reciprocal tariffs if they go into effect on April 2. Trump accused South Korea of imposing “4x higher tariffs” than the United States. Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during his visit to Washington this week and emphasized that South Korea should not receive unfavorable treatment. South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, ordered the government to communicate more actively with the U.S. administration to resolve any misunderstanding over tariffs. He had earlier said Trump’s America-first policies targeted Seoul. South Korea seeks U.S. tariff exemption Earlier this month, President Trump singled out South Korea for allegedly applying tariffs up to four times higher than those of the United States. However, the South Korean government rebutted Trump’s claim that Korea imposed “4x higher tariffs” than the United States. South Korea’s Trade Ministry stressed that “facts differed” and that under the 2007 FTA, most goods traded duty-free with an average tariff on U.S. imports of just 0.79%, dropping to 0% for industrial products. According to a statement released by the Korean Trade Ministry, South Korea’ s effective tariff rate on U.S. imports stood at 0.79% as the two countries have a free trade pact. Reportedly, what was 4x higher was Korea’s general WTO (most-favored-nation) tariff rate (13.4%) compared to America’s (3.3%). Trump’s claim overlooked that South Korea has FTAs with most trading nations, meaning that the higher general rate is rarely applied in practice. “Both sides shared the view that they will continue discussions to seek constructive and mutually beneficial progress on tariff and non-tariff measures in the future.” ~ South Korea Trade Ministry The Trade Ministry explained that South Korea imposed “virtually no tariffs on the US” and dispelled any misunderstandings through various channels, including the local embassy, recently established working-level consultative bodies, and high-level contacts, such as the Trade Minister’s recent US visit. Lutnick says tariffs on vehicles from all countries are fair On March 14, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted that next month’s U.S. tariffs could be imposed on cars from all countries, including Korea, Japan and Germany. He added that this was fair, saying, “If you’re going to tariff cars from anywhere, it’s got to be tariffing cars from everywhere.” Last week, the Trump administration delayed new tariffs on automobiles imported from Mexico and Canada for one month. However, during his visit, Trade Minister Jeong also met with Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ)–the first Korean American to serve in the U.S. Senate–to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation. He also engaged with experts from the Hudson Institute and law firms to gather insights on the Trump administration’s trade policies and potential strategies for strengthening industrial collaboration. Jeong further held talks with South Korean steel industry representatives operating in the U.S. to discuss response strategies and ways to minimize the impact of the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that took effect on March 12. Jeong said the meetings he attended during his visit were “a crucial first step.” He added that both countries will jointly build on the trust established through these discussions to ensure that Korea’s interests are fully reflected in upcoming trade decisions, prioritizing the maximization of national interests. Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn Duk-Geun also convened a meeting with business leaders On March 13 and discussed ways to beef up their joint response to U.S. tariffs. He urged companies to actively reach out to U.S. stakeholders and share details of their discussions with the government in real time. The Ministry of Trade also said in a statement that, based on the successful meetings, South Korea’s government will develop a plan to counter unfair imports. Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now
As of March 16, 2023, Bitcoin’s price has experienced a significant decline, dropping 22% from its all-time high of $109,000, reached on January 20. This price adjustment has intensified investor
21Shares plans to liquidate two Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETFs by March. The decision aligns with current market conditions and customer needs. Continue Reading: 21Shares Makes Bold Move to Liquidate Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs The post 21Shares Makes Bold Move to Liquidate Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .
Early Uber investor Jason Calacanis has opined that Ripple-linked XRP token is centralized