Major cryptocurrencies are trading higher Thursday morning despite the Central Bank of Russia’s proposed a ban on the use, issuance and mining of all cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies have posted threats to Russian citizens’ well-being and the country’s financial stability, the Central Bank said in a report Thursday.
Russia is among a list of countries that seeks or already implemented a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies. Other countries, such as the United States, are increasing regulatory oversight.
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
is trading at around $43,169, up 1.7% over the past 24 hours. Ether
ETHUSD,
traded up 3% to around $3,238. XRP
XRPUSD,
logged a 1.8% gain over the past 24 hours at around $0.76. Solana
SOLUSD,
advanced 3% to about $143, while Terra’s LUNA rallied 4.8% to $84.4. Meme token Dogecoin
DOGEUSD,
went up 1.5% to $1.68, while fellow dog-themed token Shiba Inu
SHIBUSD,
rose 2.3% to $0.000029.
Russia’s central bank said that the growth in crypto’s market value is driven primarily by speculative demand, while cryptocurrencies have the characteristics of “financial pyramids”, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the bank cited the high energy consumption of crypto mining in the report as reasons to ban such activities.
Despite the proposed ban on cryptocurrencies, Russia is rolling out its digital ruble, a central bank digital currency. The country plans to launch a prototype of the platform in early 2022.
On Thursday, investors are also eyeing a hearing hosted by U.S. Congress about the energy consumption of crypto mining. The hearing entitled “Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchains,” will start at 10:30 am Eastern time.
