Waves price: ‘Russia's Ethereum' rejects roots while token goes parabolic
The founder of a Russia-rooted blockchain project has revealed his Ukrainian background, after the price of his project’s token went parabolic -- partly thanks to its association with Russia. In a volatile crypto market whipsawed by geopolitical tension, Waves, the native token of the Waves blockchain, has jumped by more than 170% in the past two weeks. Valued at more than $2.7 billion, the token is now the 51th largest cryptocurrency by market value, according to data on CoinGecko. Waves is best known as a public blockchain with strong links to Russian entities such as state-owned manufacturing giant Rostec and private bank Alfa-Bank after collaborations with the organizations.
“The direct cause of Waves’ skyrocketing prices can be attributed to the Western nations’ Feb 27 statement to cut some Russian banks from the SWIFT message system,” said Peter Guo, a researcher at Hong Kong-based crypto investment firm Babel. “Some people could be rushing into Waves in response to potential economic sanctions and limited traditional payment channels.”
A Google search shows interest in Waves has risen in the past few days, with many online references calling it Russia’s Ethereum.
Waves founder Alexandr “Sasha” Ivanov told Bloomberg in an interview from Dubai that both he and the project have cut their relationships with Russia.
“Maybe people associate me with Russia, but I am actually Ukrainian,” said Ivanov, who claims to hold citizenship for both nations, adding that he lived in Ukraine until he was 17, and moved to Russia for school and work. He didn’t attribute the Waves price move to current events.
“I don’t think there’s any connection between the situation in Russia and the current market action around Waves,” Ivanov said.
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