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Crisis Winner:
Bitcoin posted double-digit gains after Russia was banned from the Swift payment system
Photo: PHILIPPE LOPEZ/ AFP
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has continued its rapid recovery.
On Monday, the price of the oldest and largest digital currency by market value on the Bitfinex platform temporarily exceeded the 48,000 US dollar mark.
This is the highest level since the beginning of the year.
Bitcoin has gained around 25 percent in value in the past three weeks alone.
At the beginning of March, the cryptocurrency was still trading at $38,000.
The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, also continued to rise, reaching its highest level since mid-January at $3,330.
All 18,500 digital assets are currently worth around $2.1 trillion, according to Coinmarketcap.
The record high from last November is almost three trillion dollars.
Investors are taking risks again
Bitcoin has thus recovered even faster over the past three weeks than the broader stock market, which has also posted double-digit gains since the early March low.
Digital values such as Bitcoin are considered a particularly risky form of investment, which can fluctuate greatly in price.
Prices often move with the general mood on the financial markets, but there are always exceptions to this pattern.
Some market participants name other influencing factors such as the development of inflation or capital market interest rates, although there are no stable relationships here either.
The West's sanctions against Russia have recently tended to support Bitcoin: According to statements from industry circles, Bitcoin is benefiting from Russia's exclusion from the Swift communication system.
This decision is part of the West's economic sanctions in response to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Escape currency for private individuals
Indeed, while it is conceivable that private individuals would use cryptocurrency or exchange assets into cryptocurrency in order to evade control and sanctions.
This makes Bitcoin and Co suitable as a safe haven currency for individual private individuals.
However, if they want to continue doing business, they need business partners who also accept the cryptocurrency.
However, the Russian government is likely to be blocked in this way in its international trade transactions.
The sums being traded are too large.
In addition, Russia is unlikely to find a partner for these trading transactions that accepts crypto money as a currency.
Instead, Russia is likely to try to expand its own banking communication and payment system SPFS in order to have an alternative to the payment system Swift.
However, not all Russian banks are currently involved in SPFS.
It is also possible to connect SPFS and the Chinese interbank payment system CIPS.
But even CIPS is only a fraction of the size of the Swift payment system.
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