Bitcoin roars back into positive territory, up to $39,400

Bitcoin was as low as $37,005 today but has rebounded and is now up $400 on the day to $39,400.

On Saturday it hit $40,000 but retreated after the SWIFT sanctions on Russia.

Given the sanctions on Russia, there will undoubtedly be a burgeoning cryptocurrency market in Russia. For now, it will be impossible for Russians to deposit cash and buy crypto at major exchanges but back channels already exist and I suspect more will be opening up.

That could ultimately be a tailwind for bitcoin and crypto in general. Russians holding rubles today undoubtedly regret not buying dollars, gold or crypto last week (or sooner).

However I don't think this latest move is necessarily about that. Crypto has been a decent leading-indicator of overall market sentiment recently and this could be a sign of broader risk appetite.