Bitcoin suddenly takes off

Appearing to sharply decouple from a stock market roiled by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Bitcoin in the past 24 hours has soared 17% to nearly $45,000 as of 8:50 a.m. (EST). Analysts pounced to declare Bitcoin a safe haven asset.

Several major digital assets, meanwhile, are rallying, and kind of astoundingly. Terra's LUNA rocketed more than 80% in the past week and is now closing in on a record high above $100. LUNA, seventh-largest crypto, is up 22% in the past day.

Another stand-out is Avalanche (AVAX), which surged 17%. That’s the second-biggest gain among Top 20 coins. Cardano, Polygon, Cronos and Polkadot are, respectively, up 9%, 10%, 11% and 12% since yesterday. Solana, ahead of its foundation's ambitious world tour, is closing in on $100. Meme coins are up. So is XRP. And there's an Ethereum-compatible synthetic-asset creation platform called UMA that just rose 140%.

Said one exchange executive, Luno's Vijay Ayyar: “Cryptocurrencies are arguably having their watershed moment."

BTC's watershed moment comes against backdrop of global tension and with Western allies – even Switzerland – ratcheting up sanctions aimed at isolating Russia from the global economy.

The ruble plummeted, Moscow ATMs came under siege, Russia’s stock market was kept shuttered and, most strikingly, some big European oil companies pulled stakes from their Russian joint ventures, a crippling blow rooted in the conclusion that continuing operations in Russia is too severe a reputational hazard.

As of Tuesday morning, France’s TotalEnergies and U.S.-headquartered ExxonMobil still had not ended drilling operations in Russia.

The U.S., EU and UK together blocked some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system while also cordoning off Russia's massive stash of foreign currency reserves.

Centrally controlled money supply impulses were on full, whacked-out display as Russia's central bank doubled its key interest rate to a record 20% to stave off bank runs.

Russia also reportedly upped the ante in its invasion. Satellite imagery overnight revealed a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian military vehicles heading toward Kyiv.

Market turmoil toppled crypto markets six days ago. Continued tumult now has it surging.

"Crypto is becoming more and more of a long-term safe haven for future generations," says Voyager Digital CEO Stephen Ehrlich, per Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin certainly came into March like a lion. As the final few hours of February 2022 fell away, BTC broke into a sprint, squeezing bears to the tune of $300 million worth of liquidations and leaving $38K behind, though not without acknowledging that mark’s timely, unwavering support.

Trader/analyst Pentoshi dubs March "a month of massive variables."

"There is a lot going on in the world right now," he tweeted. “It's anyone’s guess. I think a day to day approach is best."