Demand for Tether Triples in Russia Amid Revolt
• Russians reportedly exchanged their rubles for crypto during the short-lived uprising of the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
• The largest platforms for ruble transactions in June include Binance, Cryptonex, HitBTC and Coinsbit.
• Trading for ruble-denominated Tether rose by 300% to around $15 million on June 24th.
Demand for One Crypto Asset Triples in Russia During Short-Lived Revolt
During a revolt led by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group in Russia against the government of Russia, the demand for one specific crypto asset tripled as Russians exchanged their rubles for it.
The Crypto Asset in Demand
The crypto asset in demand was not Bitcoin (BTC). Instead, it was stablecoin Tether (USDT) that saw trading volumes shoot up to around $15 million on June 24th – a 300% increase from before.
Platforms Supporting Ruble Transactions
Most exchanges have delisted trading pairs in rubles because of financial sanctions imposed against Russia; however there are still some platforms that continue to support them. According to blockchain data firm CCData, these include Binance, Cryptonex, HitBTC and Coinsbit – which were among the largest platforms for ruble transactions seen in June.
Reason Behind Increase in Trading Volume
CCData Communications Manager Jamie Sly explains that this increase in trading volume is due to market participants opting to hold less volatile assets since a similar trend was not observed when it came to Bitcoin.
Takeaway
When faced with economic uncertainty or disasters like wars or revolutions, people often turn towards digital gold such as Bitcoin as a store of value; however this recent event has shown that other crypto assets such as USDT can be just as popular during times of turmoil.
