Ukraine invasion: Why Bitcoin surged, crypto donations hit $50m — and will Russia use BTC to evade sanctions?

On this week's CoinMarketRecap podcast with Connor Sephton, we focus on crypto's role in the invasion of Ukraine.Bitcoin surged by 15% in a single day on Monday… as the Russian ruble fell to a record low against the U.S. dollar. But why? OANDA analyst Edward Moya will join us to discuss what caused this sudden rise — and what might happen next.Plus, is Russia planning to use cryptocurrencies to try and sidestep sanctions designed to cripple its economy and isolate the country on the world stage?We ask Salman Banaei from Chainalysis if this could happen on a mass scale… and whether ransomware attacks are going to become a bigger problem in the months ahead.Also in this week's podcast, cryptocurrencies worth more than $50 million are donated to Ukraine — and exchanges reject calls to block addresses belonging to all Russian users.You can find us on Twitter — @ConnorSephton and @CoinMarketCap.