Russia created a major test for crypto

[The Morning After]( Now available on your smart speaker and wherever you get your podcasts [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google Play]( | [iHeart Radio]( It's Wednesday, March 02, 2022. As countries and territories put the financial squeeze on Russia, it’s turned into a major test of cryptocurrencies and their exchanges. Many of the biggest cryptocoins, like bitcoin and Ethereum, have [rallied in the past few days](. Is this due to an influx of Russian money as the ruble tumbled in value? Or is this due to crypto investors and owners pushing that narrative to bump up values and reignite interest? I don’t know. I’m not an economist. At the same time, Ukraine had raised over $13 million in cryptocurrency contributions as of February 28th. Reuters reported last week Binance had restricted crypto accounts affected by sanctions against Russia, while Kraken is warning Russians their accounts might be frozen if there's a "legal requirement" to do so. Despite requests from Ukraine to go further, major crypto exchanges, including Coinbase and Binance, are saying that doing so would harm civilians and be counter to their ideals. "To unilaterally decide to ban people’s access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists,” a Binance spokesperson told CNBC. For now, cryptocurrency continues to exist on the fringes of governmental influence. — Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed - [Ethernet co-inventor David Boggs dies at 71]( - [Engadget Deals: Apple's Mac Mini M1 drops back down to $570]( - [Engadget Deals: AMD Ryzen 5000 processors fall to all-time lows at Amazon]( - [Amazon's Luna cloud gaming service officially launches in the US]( - ['Monument Valley 2' and 'Alto's Adventure' are coming to Apple Arcade]( - [Facebook will demote Russian state media across its entire platform]( - [Cyberattack forces Toyota to suspend vehicle production in Japan]( - [Apple halts sales of all products in Russia]( - [Paramount+ anniversary sale drops plans to $1 for new subscribers]( [Google wants devices to know when you're paying attention]( All in the name of more intuitive experiences. [[TMA] Google]( Google has been working on a "new interaction language" for years, and today it's sharing a peek at what it's developed so far. 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