Ethereum price crashes amidst mounting war escalations
ETH's day to day volatility has been rising as markets across the board continue to be ravaged by the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
- USDT, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, is selling at a massive premium of over 20% on Ukrainian exchange Kuna.
- NFT projects entering OpenSea have continued to grow despite dipping trade volumes.
- Monster Energy recently filed for 4 trademark applications relating to the global NFT and metaverse ecosystem.
Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalisation, has continued to see its daily losses mount rapidly, a trend that is largely being witnessed by the crypto market at large as well. In this regard, the altcoin is currently down -15% over the past fortnight while exhibiting a 24-hour profit ratio of 2.4%. At press time, ETH is trading at a price point of AUD$3,663.
The volatility is stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine yesterday, forcing markets across the board to suffer massive liquidations. In fact, reports suggest that the price of USDT — a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar — has continued to skyrocket on popular Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange Kuna (rising as high as US$1.23 per USDT).
Over the last 24 hour stretch, Kuna reported that its trading volume had exceeded the US$4.4-million mark despite USDT being sold at a massive premium. This could be because earlier this week, the National Bank of Ukraine announced its plans to fix the foreign exchange rate of its local fiat currency (UAH) as well as to impose certain cash withdrawal limitations within its borders.
NFT projects grow despite dipping trade volumes on OpenSea
Even after a number of hackers tried to compromise prominent NFT marketplace OpenSea recently, the platform has continued to witness a growing number of projects continuing to use its ecosystem. That said, the total trade volume witnessed by OpenSea has dropped substantially after having scaled up to a relative high of US$3 billion last month.
This drop in numbers can be attributed to climbing global tensions, especially as NATO forces continue to line up across the Ukrainian border. Intelligence data also suggests that both Russia and Ukraine have been indulging in aerial warfare as well.
Monster energy enters the metaverse
As per filings registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Monster Energy, one of the world's most popular sports beverage manufacturers, has applied for 4 separate trademarks relating to the NFT market. While the first application consists of "downloadable virtual goods" relating to domains such as gaming, music and sports, the other filings are associated with the creation of an "online marketplace" where clients can buy/sell their virtual items (as well as the transmission of digital assets using blockchain tech).
A couple of weeks ago, the New York Stock Exchange submitted a trademark application relating to NFTs while McDonald's also did the same by filing for a trademark for its "McMetaverse" restaurant. Lastly, Meta (the parent firm behind Facebook) and Walmart have also submitted a number of metaverse-centric trademark applications recently.
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner's guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing.
