Russian President Vladimir Putin has his say on cryptocurrencies, saying they have value, although he is not convinced they can replace the US dollar in regulating oil trading. Cryptocurrencies “have a right to exist and can be used as a means of payment,” Putin said in a CNBC interview published today on the Kremlin’s website. As a critical element, the Russian leader pointed to the massive energy consumption of cryptocurrencies as a potential barrier to their use. Bitcoin in fact requires a lot of computing power to process transactions and mint new tokens.
Putin has spared no hard barbs against the United States, hinting at Russia’s propensity to abandon its dependence on the dollar. “I think the United States makes a huge mistake in using the dollar as a sanctioning tool,” said the Russian president. “We are forced. We have no choice but to switch to transactions in other currencies ”. “In this regard, we can say that the United States bites the hand that feeds themPutin added. “The dollar is a competitive advantage. It is a universal reserve currency and the United States today uses it to pursue political objectives and consequently damages their strategic and economic interests ”.
In June, Russia announced that it would write off the assets of the sovereign wealth fund in US currency. In its place, investments in euros, yuan and gold will be intensified.
Moscow seeks alternatives to dollar rule
Russia has been looking for alternatives to the dollar oil trade since it was hit with sanctions in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea, and Putin accuses the US of using their currency as a weapon. A few months ago, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak suggested that the country could abandon US dollar-denominated crude oil contracts if the US continues to impose targeted economic sanctions.
Putin, on the other hand, is holding back on possible exchanges of energy resources in cryptocurrency. Asked whether cryptocurrencies could be used as an alternative to the greenback, Putin said it was “too early to tell.”
This pro-crypto endorsement by the Russian president comes unexpected considering that the Russian central bank has issued a series of warnings to cryptocurrency traders, reminding of the excessive dangers involved in buying and selling cryptocurrencies.
The United States and many other European nations are also contemplating strict rules on the cryptocurrency market.
Meanwhile, today bitcoin finds its nourishment in the words of the Russian leader and has reached a maximum in the area of 58,500 dollars (Coindesk data), up by about 5% in the last 24 hours. The Ethereum is even better with + 7.5% at $ 3,730.