The “real” daily volume of Bitcoin (BTC) jumped to levels not seen in three months amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to the latest weekly update from blockchain analytics firm Arcane Research, BTC’s real daily trading volume surpassed $10 billion last Thursday (February 24, the first day of the invasion), the highest daily volume recorded since December 4.
The firm cited “new cryptocurrency narratives” that have come to the fore amid the ongoing crisis, such as cryptocurrency fundraising in Ukraine, along with growing demand towards the Western bloc and Russia’s imposition of “the strictest capital controls in decades.” “.
Strong pressure from investors looking to risk-dive on Feb. 24 may also have contributed to the rise in BTC daily volume, as the price fell 10% that day.
The term “real trading volume” refers to data obtained from exchanges that are considered reputable and do not engage in fictitious trading. In this case, Arcane Research pulled its data from the Bitwise 10 exchanges (consisting of names like Coinbase, Kraken, Poloniex, and Binance), as well as LMAX and FTX.

In comparison, cryptocurrency data aggregators such as Coingecko, which source data from over 500 exchanges, had BTC trading volume on Feb. 24 of around $25 billion. The actual BTC Messari volume chart (which includes a number of additional exchanges) paints a similar picture to the Arcane chart, recording a spike in volume to around $11.6B last Thursday.
Since February 24, the real daily volume of BTC has dropped to around $7.5 billion as of March.1 according to Messari. Thu
Arcane Research also highlighted that on Feb. 28, BTC posted its biggest daily percentage gain of the year, with the price jumping 14.5% in 24 hours. The firm attributed this surge in part to the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Russia and Ukraine (although the actual volume is relatively small globally), as well as increased speculation about the use cases for cryptocurrencies amid the current Russian invasion:
“Investors assume that cryptocurrencies will become an increasingly important apolitical and unreliable money in times of escalating geopolitical uncertainty, conflict and capital controls. This assumption may have contributed to the 15% increase in the price of bitcoin over the past seven days.”
Related: Uniswap Creates Interface to Exchange Altcoins for ETH Donations for Ukraine
cryptocurrency in Ukraine and Russia
Due to severe disruption of financial services and markets in both Russia and Ukraine, the use of cryptocurrencies has had negative consequences.
The report contains data for the last month, indicating a significant surge in cryptocurrency purchases by citizens of Ukraine.
Around the time the full-scale Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, daily purchases of Tether (USDT) stablecoins on Binance through the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) increased from about $2.5M to about $8.5M by Feb. 25./UAH showed a similar trajectory, rising from about $1 million to $3.0 million over that time period.


A similar phenomenon occurred in Russia, with USDT ruble purchases rising from around $15 million on February 21st to $34.94 million on February 28th. Bitcoin daily purchases also jumped from less than $5 million to $15 million on Feb. 25 before returning to a range of around $12 million.
The “real” daily volume of Bitcoin (BTC) jumped to levels not seen in three months amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to the latest weekly update from blockchain analytics firm Arcane Research, BTC’s real daily trading volume surpassed $10 billion last Thursday (February 24, the first day of the invasion), the highest daily volume recorded since December 4.
The firm cited “new cryptocurrency narratives” that have come to the fore amid the ongoing crisis, such as cryptocurrency fundraising in Ukraine, along with growing demand towards the Western bloc and Russia’s imposition of “the strictest capital controls in decades.” “.
Strong pressure from investors looking to risk-dive on Feb. 24 may also have contributed to the rise in BTC daily volume, as the price fell 10% that day.
The term “real trading volume” refers to data obtained from exchanges that are considered reputable and do not engage in fictitious trading. In this case, Arcane Research pulled its data from the Bitwise 10 exchanges (consisting of names like Coinbase, Kraken, Poloniex, and Binance), as well as LMAX and FTX.

In comparison, cryptocurrency data aggregators such as Coingecko, which source data from over 500 exchanges, had BTC trading volume on Feb. 24 of around $25 billion. The actual BTC Messari volume chart (which includes a number of additional exchanges) paints a similar picture to the Arcane chart, recording a spike in volume to around $11.6B last Thursday.
Since February 24, the real daily volume of BTC has dropped to around $7.5 billion as of March.1 according to Messari. Thu
Arcane Research also highlighted that on Feb. 28, BTC posted its biggest daily percentage gain of the year, with the price jumping 14.5% in 24 hours. The firm attributed this surge in part to the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Russia and Ukraine (although the actual volume is relatively small globally), as well as increased speculation about the use cases for cryptocurrencies amid the current Russian invasion:
“Investors assume that cryptocurrencies will become an increasingly important apolitical and unreliable money in times of escalating geopolitical uncertainty, conflict and capital controls. This assumption may have contributed to the 15% increase in the price of bitcoin over the past seven days.”
Related: Uniswap Creates Interface to Exchange Altcoins for ETH Donations for Ukraine
cryptocurrency in Ukraine and Russia
Due to severe disruption of financial services and markets in both Russia and Ukraine, the use of cryptocurrencies has had negative consequences.
The report contains data for the last month, indicating a significant surge in cryptocurrency purchases by citizens of Ukraine.
Around the time the full-scale Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, daily purchases of Tether (USDT) stablecoins on Binance through the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) increased from about $2.5M to about $8.5M by Feb. 25./UAH showed a similar trajectory, rising from about $1 million to $3.0 million over that time period.


A similar phenomenon occurred in Russia, with USDT ruble purchases rising from around $15 million on February 21st to $34.94 million on February 28th. Bitcoin daily purchases also jumped from less than $5 million to $15 million on Feb. 25 before returning to a range of around $12 million.