Cryptocurrency Prices Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano decline; crypto donations to Ukraine nearing $10 mn

The global cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell 2.83 percent over the last 24 hours to $1.75 trillion, while trading volumes were down about 29.55 percent to $68.18 billion during the same period. Over the last 24 hours, the total volume in the decentralised finance (DeFi) space stood at $11.02 billion, constituting around 16.16 percent of the 24-hour cryptocurrency trading volume. The total volume in stablecoins stood at $53.41 billion, around 78.34 percent of the 24-hour cryptocurrency trading volume. Bitcoin's market dominance rose 0.13 percent to 41.89 percent and the currency was trading at $38,561.99 on the morning of February 27. Read more here.

EU 'Commits' to Cutting Russian Banks Off From SWIFT Over Ukraine Invasion

The European Union has "resolved" to isolate Russia from the international financial system, including by blocking some banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the messaging network underpinning global financial transactions. In blocking Russia from SWIFT, the European Union would block Russian institutions from conducting any interbank transactions with non-Russian entities, effectively cutting it off from the global financial system. The move came days after Russian military forces launched attacks on various cities and military bases in Ukraine, including in the nation’s capital Kyiv. Read more here.

Ukrainian Government Receives $5M in Crypto Donations After Russian Invasion

The Ukrainian government is seeking donations in cryptocurrency as the country seeks to repel the invasion by Russia. The Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets listed by the government on Twitter have already received around $4.9 million worth of crypto in total. The Ethereum wallet has received just over $3.9 million in donations as of 22:39 UTC. The Bitcoin wallet has received $970,000 as of the same time, with some of the bitcoin having already been sent out. Read here.

Ethereum Gets an Upgraded Scaling Testnet – And It's Actually Years Ahead of Schedule

zkSync, a protocol responsible for implementing Ethereum scaling platforms, accomplished the unexpected yesterday, announcing the test network release of an Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible Zero-Knowledge rollup (zkEVM) years ahead of schedule. The EVM is the environment in which all Ethereum wallets and contracts live and is responsible for defining the rules of the chain from block to block. The new test network is the first implementation of a ZK rollup capable of running the full Ethereum environment and will provide great insight into how capable zero-knowledge technology is at scaling blockchains. Read more here.