MicroStrategy’s chief, Michael Saylor, has said that war and inflation increase the appeal of BTC. The billionaire tweeted this in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia.
BTC Will Appear More Attractive
In a tweet on Thursday, Michael Saylor said the economic fallout of the crisis would make Bitcoin even more appealing to investors and even ordinary people. The executive said this as news of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine spread around the world, leaving panic and anxiety reflected in the markets.
Saylor has been a very vocal supporter of Bitcoin over the last year. He remains consistent in his belief that Bitcoin has great potential as an inflationary hedge. His firm, MicroStrategy, is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin in the world, with about 125,051 BTC in their wallet, worth about $5 billion at today’s rates.
Saylor believes that the price of Bitcoin will only continue to rise against fiat currency, which isn’t backed by anything but has its supply controlled by government evaluation of economic situations. The billionaire once said he expected the asset to eventually be worth $6 million in the future. As such, his firm has mapped out a plan to continue to purchase the asset for some time to come, with no plans to sell.
You will recall that last year, many Bitcoin enthusiasts hailed the asset as digital gold, championing the asset’s ability as an inflationary hedge due to its limited supply. While pundits are yet to agree on this due to the highly volatile nature of the asset class, it is important to note that last year, with inflation on the rise, Bitcoin outperformed gold. As Wharton Professor Jeremy Siegel put it, Bitcoin has replaced gold for young investors.
Initially, when Putin declared that Russia was going to carry out a military operation in Eastern Ukraine, the markets appeared to collapse. However, the markets have rebounded and BTC, which dropped below $35k at the release of the news, is now trading at about $39,389 on major exchanges. As the conflict rages on, both Russia and Ukraine may have more use cases for the asset class.
Millions Of Dollars In Bitcoin Donated To Ukraine’s Military As Crypto Usage Rises
Reports as of yesterday evening showed that Ukraine’s military, through the Come Back Alive Foundation, an organization based in the country’s capital, has received over 2000 donations in Bitcoin. The wallet shows that over 130BTC have been received, worth over $5 million.
Ukraine is also seeing an increase in the trade of cryptocurrencies within the country. Trading volumes appear to have jumped by over 200%. In fact, USDT is trading well over $1 as a result of the increased demand. This trend will likely continue as long as inflation sets in and financial services shut down.
Two Danish reporters who left Ukraine using a Mazda purchased with Bitcoin noted that people were on the streets looking for a way to access cash as ATMs were reportedly down. Ukraine’s central bank has reportedly shut down electronic transfers.
