#edgeforex #trading #market #money #forex #russia #lavrov #nato #ban #dialogue #ukraine #rates #oil #crude #equities #cryprocurrency #bitcoin lavrov

Russia – Ukraine

·   Russia, according to Lavrov, will continue its operations in Ukraine.

·  He went on to say that the West is not ready for equal dialogue and that things will continue as they are, even if talks between Moscow and Kyiv are taking place.

· The next round of Russia-Ukraine talks could begin at 1200 GMT.

· At this point, risk assets would prefer to be present in the prospect of talks rather than the actual talks themselves, according to Belta agency reports. It is highly unlikely that either side will concede anything during the talks, so there is a risk of a communication breakdown. But it’s possible that both sides are aware of this and are simply acting nice for the sake of appearances while the fighting continues on the ground.

· Lavrov also stated that nuclear war is only in the minds of Western politicians, not Russians.

· NATO seeks to maintain its supremacy in all spheres.

· No one has attacked NATO

· Dialogue with NATO will begin at some point in the future

· When it comes down to it, actions speak louder than words.

Oil

• Oil prices continue to rise, with Brent approaching $120 per barrel.
• Oil prices are continuing to rise as the session begins. Brent is now trading at its highest level since May 2012, crossing above $119, while WTI crude is up $5 to above $116.  
• Oil bulls are not relenting, as prices continue to rise in the midst of the current Russian situation. The market was already tight prior to the Russia-Ukraine saga, but now that buyers are looking for alternatives to Russian crude, it only serves to exacerbate the situation.
• When you combine that with the trifecta of bullish fundamentals, such as low global inventories, supply struggling to meet recovering demand from the pandemic, and a steep backwardation in the curve, it adds up to a massive tailwind for oil right now.
• The next plausible target is the $120 to $125 range, after which we’ll see if there’s more appetite for another leg higher in oil prices.

Bitcoin Mining

• The European Union will not outlaw bitcoin mining.
• On February 28th, immediately following the Bank of Russia asset freeze, BTC increased by 11%, the highest gain in many months. As a result of the new sanctions, Russians sold their depreciating ruble assets and invested them in cryptocurrencies.
• It has previously been discussed in the EU that because Bitcoin and Ethereum use the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism, which consumes a lot of electricity and has a negative impact on the environment, it is time to ban mining of these cryptocurrencies.
• However, following the new version of the bill on digital assets, it was decided to abandon this idea. Technically, Bitcoin slowed on Wednesday after two days of active strengthening, and it retreated to 43.1K on Thursday morning, losing 2.2 percent in the previous 24 hours.
• In the same time frame, Ethereum is down 3.3 percent and 0.6 percent. Leading altcoins in the top ten have lost anywhere from 1% (Terra, XRP) to more than 5%. (Avalanche). According to CoinMarketCap, the total capitalization of the crypto market has decreased by 2.5 percent to $1.09 trillion. The Bitcoin Dominance Index is currently at 43.1 percent. The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index dropped 13 points to 29, putting it back in the fear zone.