Cryptocurrencies bounced back on Tuesday even as global equity markets fell amid fears of Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bitcoin, the world's largest virtual currency in terms of market capitalisation, gained nearly 4 percent to trade at $43,609 (Rs 32,99,549) at 8:57 am (IST), according to CoinDesk data.

Bitcoin has witnessed a very volatile trend over the past one year - the virtual currency oscillated between a high of $69,000 and a low level of $33,000.

On Monday, the global cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell 2.14 percent to $1.86 trillion, while trading volumes were down 11.35 percent to $61.44 billion, according to moneycontrol.

Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency which is linked to ethereum blockchain, also rose more than 5 percent to $3,027 at 9:01 am. In rupee term, Ethereum was trading at Rs 2,30,017.

Meme crypto Dogecoin gained more than 2.5 percent to trade at $0.15, while Shiba Inur rose more than 4.5 percent to $0.000031. Solana, which witnessed substantial interest from the crypto traders last year, gained nearly 10 percent to trade at $101.83 at 9:08 am.

Other cryptocurrencies such as Litcoin, XRP, Chainlink, Avalanche, Cardano, Polygon, Stellar, Terra, and Internet Computer were trading in the positive territory over the past 24 hours.

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US stock markets fell on Monday amid heightened geopolitical tensions over the Russia-Ukraine border conflict investors were scurrying to buy safe haven government bonds. The US on Monday warned that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time. Oil prices rose to seven-year highs. Asian stock markets also tumbed over political instability on Tuesday.

Also Read: Asian shares slip amid fears of Russian invasion of Ukraine

Meanwhile, making a strong case for banning cryptocurrencies, RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar on Monday said they are even worse than Ponzi schemes and threaten the financial sovereignty of a country.

Earlier, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget announced a 30 percent tax on the returns from trading or investing in cryptocurrencies or other digital assets such as NFTs.

(Edited by : Bivekananda Biswas)

First Published:Feb 15, 2022 9:30 AM IST