Bitcoin becomes more valuable than Russian Ruble, moves up in global currency ranking

• 1 Ruble is equivalent to $0.0087, dropped 30% over 5 days

• Cryptocurrencies are offering Russians ways to evade sanctions

Bitcoin moved up in the global ranking of currencies position on Tuesday, leaving the Russian Ruble behind, after the nation’s currency sank to a record low as the West hit Moscow with new sanctions.

The largest digital token jumped more than 9.5% over the last 24 hours to $44,953.06, while Ruble dropped to the lowest in 30 years.

Russia’s fiat currency had dropped around 30% over the last five days after the Western nations enforced bans to block Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system, among other sanctions.

Currently, 1 Ruble is equivalent to $0.0087.

The central bank of Russia on Monday hiked the country’s key interest rate to 20% from 9.5% to stabilize the free-falling Ruble.

Shifting to safe heaven

Although digital currencies are usually seen as a risky bet, as the United States, the European Union, and other western countries impose curbs on conventional assets, experts believe cryptocurrencies will gain more traction.

Amid the sanctions, virtual assets would offer Russians a way of evading restrictions and offer investors a relatively safe haven.

Moreover, Binance, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, is experiencing a recent increase in trading volume between Ruble and other cryptocurrencies.

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Investors appear to be “trying to get out of the ruble” due to its “drastic devaluation after all the sanctions,” Bendik Schei, head of research at Arcane Research, an Oslo-based cryptocurrency research firm, told CNN.

Schei said that more people are switching to Tether, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, rather than Bitcoin.

Over the past week, Tether has mostly held firm at about $1 a piece.

Picture Credit: Bitcoin News