Bitcoin has the opportunity to increase mass adoption and higher values this year amid geopolitical issues including the heightened Ukraine-Russia tensions, deVere Group CEO Nigel Green stated.

“Serious geopolitical risks in recent weeks are demonstrating real life use cases for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in extremely volatile times”

“Research shows that Bitcoin donations are flooding into Ukrainian non-governmental organisations and volunteer groups. The crowdfunding activities are, say experts, being used to equip the Ukrainian army with military and medical supplies.

Russia has recently made moves to regulate crypto, including upcoming tax standards, but Nigel Green says the country knows “Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can circumnavigate traditional financial institutions that might block transactions as in crypto there’s no central authority that can block payments.”

So why has the price of Bitcoin dropped in the last few days? “This was triggered by a wider risk-off sentiment that also impacted many areas of global stock markets”, he said.

“Stock markets, like the crypto market, never move in a straight line, there are always peaks and troughs. Yet history teaches us that the long-term trajectories are predictable for both: they go up.”

“But geopolitical issues this week have tested its other core values of being a viable decentralised, tamper-proof, unconfiscatable monetary system. These real life use cases will further increase Bitcoin’s mass adoption and lead to higher prices this year”, he concluded.

Nigel Green’s words were published a few days after the arrest of a couple that was allegedly laundering $4.5 billion in crypto that was stolen during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex. Law enforcement seized over $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency linked to that hack.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, said: “Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals. In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes.”

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, commented: “Today, federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system. The arrests today show that we will take a firm stand against those who allegedly try to use virtual currencies for criminal purposes.”

Hackers had moved 94,000 BTC (equivalent to $3.6 billion) in early February.