Russian and Ukrainians civilians are rapidly cashing in their national currencies for bitcoin as the Russian attack on Ukraine continues to take a steep financial toll on their economic sectors.
In Russia, unprecedented sanctions imposed by the U.S., U.K. and Europe have caused the value of Russian rubles to decrease, a drop civilians are trying to counter with exchanges via the cryptocurrency, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has restricted the ability of citizens to conduct electronic transactions, so many are now cashing in the hryvnia for bitcoin.
The new embrace of the cryptocurrency within the two nations has caused bitcoin prices to soar after an initial drop following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The bitcoin price fell to about $34,000 after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the attack last week but then rose about 10 percent on Monday.
