February was a month of recovery for the crypto industry — not that it was all smooth sailing. January was a struggle for many cryptocurrency holders, but with the small chutes of recovery observed towards the back end of the month heading into Feb, the stage was set for upward trends across the market. It achieved these in droves, but not without a few bumps along the way.
Upward Trajectory
On February 1st, markets were enjoying a buoyancy that demonstrated they were leaving the January blues behind. Bitcoin bounced out of the first month of the year into a $38k valuation, and bar a couple of days in the first week of the month headed towards $40k with gusto.
Likewise with Ethereum, starting the month at around the $2,680 mark, it would soon hit $3,250 towards the middle of the month. Up and coming coins like Terra were able to increase their total value by 3 figures, trading close to the $100 mark at the end of the month in comparison to the $50 mark at the beginning.
Starting From A Lower Base
It would be amiss to not view such a month in context. Without dwelling too much on the past, January was a tough month across the industry. Bitcoin was trading at $57k at the beginning of December, so while recovery was February’s theme it doesn’t tell the full picture.
That’s not to say there haven’t been winners in the industry overall. Short sellers at the beginning of December would, with a bit of patience and an eye on the long term, have benefited significantly over recent weeks from their approach. As we have seen many times with crypto, there’s always a way to win — you just need to know how to play.
Geopolitical Factors
Just like any marketplace, significant world events will have a huge impact on the trades of the day, and the crypto market is no different. When Russian forces entered Ukraine towards the end of February, markets across the world plummeted and a fear factor struck through crypto. With word breaking of an imminent invasion, Bitcoin fell from $38,965 to $34,904 in the space of 12 hours, and many other cryptos followed suit.
In true crypto fashion, however, the market came roaring back, and many fallen markets even managed to reverse their misfortunes within the same day. Solana had recovered from a position of $78 on the morning of February 24th to close at $90. While small hangover signs can still be observed in some markets throughout the course of the month, the dip that the invasion caused has been surpassed. Significantly, much of this recovery was driven by demand from within both Russia and Ukraine, with political instability and the prospect of harsh sanctions making traders turn to a decentralized financial system.
An Industry Fortified
What is most significant about not only the strength of the rebound but also its timing is just how feasible cryptocurrency is becoming to markets wrought with instability. For the recovery of the market towards the end of February to be driven by traders from the very countries at the heart of the instability is testament to the problem that cryptocurrencies are looking to solve. Heading into March, crypto markets have proved that they can not only withstand geopolitical uncertainty — they can thrive within it.
