Equity and crypto markets fell Friday as Preside Joe Biden said the US, the European Union and G7 members are planning to remove Russia’s «most favored» nation trade status.
The move increases bans on Russian imports to additional good, including vodka and seafood.
In a press briefing, Biden said the switch in Russia’s trade status «would be another crushing blow to the Russian economy. Added Biden: «It’s already suffering very badly from our sanctions.»
Biden reiterated that the US would defend NATO, but that a direct conflict between NATO and Russia would result in a new world war.
«I want to be clear: We will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full might of a united and galvanized NATO,» Bidensaid. But we will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III. And something we must strive to prevent.»
So far, Russia seems indifferent to the economic strife. The country even increased its push through Ukraine by striking airfields in the west and a major industrial city in the east, lowering hopes that the conflict could end diplomatically.
Despite the heavy economic blow, Russia has continued its invasion, making markets highly volatile. The S&P 500 fell by 1.3% Friday, while the Nasdaq and Dow dropped by 2.13% and 0.69%, respectively.
Crypto markets also decreased, with bitcoin falling by 2.09% and ether dropping by 2.08% by the end of stock trading.
THORchain, a decentralized liquidity protocol, was crypto’s biggest gainer of the day among the top 100 coins by market capitalization, with a 9.27% gain.
Top stories
Story: Report: 50% of NFT Holders Have Lost Access to Their NFTs
MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Math Wallet are the most commonly used wallets
16% of respondents said their accounts on NFT platforms had been previously hacked
Story: Hack VC Hikes Fundraising Stakes, Targets $500M for New Crypto Venture Fund
Coinbase doubles down on its efforts to diversify revenue streams away from trading fees
Those that qualify for the beta launch will be contacted by email
Story: Juno Network Stakeholders To Decide Fate of Whale’s Millions in a Crypto First
If the whale abruptly pulled out their funds — currently worth about $122 million — they could single-handedly wipe out JUNO liquidity on decentralized exchanges
The proposal, if passed, could set an “interesting” and “potentially dangerous” precedent, a community member named Kavaskous on Twitter said
Story: New Planned ETF Targets NFT-related Stocks
The filing comes as the SEC rejected proposed spot bitcoin ETFs from fund issuers NYDIG and Global X Thursday
Exchange Traded Concepts launched the Fount Metaverse ETF in October
Going forward
Markets are likely to be volatile going forward as the Ukraine-Russia conflict intensifies. The mid-March Federal Reserve meeting will take place next week, where the Fed plans to reveal its plan for interest rates.