[Bitcoin Now] Rising on News of Russia's Crude Oil and Natural Gas Payment Push

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The price of the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin is showing an upward trend. This follows news that Russia is considering using Bitcoin for payments in crude oil and natural gas.

According to the global cryptocurrency market tracking site CoinMarketCap, as of 11:12 AM on the 25th, the price of Bitcoin recorded $44,052 (approximately 53.62 million KRW), up 3.04% compared to the previous day.

The strength today appears to be due to reports that Russia is reviewing plans to make payments for crude oil and natural gas using Bitcoin.

On the 24th (local time), according to the US economic media CNBC, Pavel Zavalny, Chairman of the Russian Parliament's Energy Committee, said, "Russia is willing to adopt more flexible payment methods for friendly countries such as China and Turkey," adding, "Bitcoin is also being considered as an alternative alongside the buyer country's currency for Russia's energy export payments." Nick Carter, co-founder of Coin Metrics, explained, "Russia is seeking diversification into other currencies," and "They have been preparing for this since disposing of US bonds in 2014."

Bitcoin trading volume is also on the rise. According to CoinMarketCap, the 24-hour Bitcoin trading volume increased by 16.8% compared to the previous day, reaching $30,720,531,860 (approximately 37.3705 trillion KRW).

Domestically, the digital asset Fear & Greed Index operated by Dunamu, the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, recorded 58.66, indicating a 'neutral' stage. Compared to 52.79 (neutral) on the 18th of this month, a week ago, it is 5.86 points higher. Dunamu's digital asset Fear & Greed Index is divided into stages of 'Extreme Fear (0?20)', 'Fear (20?40)', 'Neutral (40?60)', 'Greed (60?80)', and 'Extreme Greed (80?100)'. The greed direction indicates increased interest in buying by market participants, whereas moving toward fear indicates a fear of asset decline, leading to market exits and a chain reaction of price drops.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.