Rouble falls to record low as Russians go for Bitcoin, Tether

Cryptocurrencies have been in the spotlight recently owing to the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has received over $59.2 million (over Rs 456 crores) to date.

What is interesting to note is the fact that as sanctions and capital constraints take effect, the volume of peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchanges in Russia has gone up by three times.

The volume of the BTC/RUB trading pair rose more than 240 per cent above the 30-day trailing average in RUB terms on February 28 and has been steadily rising ever since.

Experts suggest that this could be because of the fact that Russian businesses have embraced Bitcoin to avoid sanctions imposed by the West. Furthermore, a large number of ordinary citizens in Russia are turning to Bitcoin as a hedge against the soaring inflation.

The Russian rouble is rapidly falling and has hit its 12-month low value, as compared to the USD.

It is also interesting to note that The USDT/RUB trade volume surpassed 1.3 billion for the first time in over eight months. Tether, the world's most valuable stablecoin by market value, is known for preserving price stability in the face of cryptocurrency volatility.

This cryptocurrency maintains its value 1:1 pegged to the US dollar. The stability of the USDT token might be one of the reasons why Russians are flocking to swap their rouble for USDT Tether.

It is worth mentioning that it seems like the western sanctions are showing their effect on the Russian economy because, despite the destructive effects of Russia’s invasion and the economic impact it might have had on the Ukrainian economy,  unlike the Russian rouble, the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) has not lost much in value as compared to the US dollar.