Russian President Vladimir Putin made new comments suggesting a growing tolerance for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies during a fresh interview.
Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks that cryptocurrencies have value. But he’s not convinced yet that they can replace the U.S. dollar in settling oil trades. Said the president in CNBC’s interview with Hadley Gamble.
“I believe that it has value, but I don’t believe it can be used in the oil trade. Cryptocurrency is not supported by anything as of yet. It may exist as a means of payment. But I think it’s too early to say about the oil trade in cryptocurrency. Everything develops, everything has the right to exist. We will see how it will go further, maybe someday it may also be a means of accumulation. We see this market fluctuate. It’s a bit early today.”
Putin also commented on contracts “Cryptocurrency contracts? It’s too early to talk about this, because cryptocurrency, of course, can be a unit of account, but it is very unstable. In order to transfer funds from one place to another—yes, but to trade, let alone trade in energy resources, in my opinion, is still premature.”
By the way, Russia is rolling out its own central bank digital currency, or CBDC. In June, Bank of Russia named 12 banks that will be involved in the initial testing of the digital Ruble. The central bank plans to create a prototype of digital Ruble by December this year.
In June, Russia announced it would drop U.S. dollar assets from its sovereign wealth fund and many Bitcoiners are willing to know which country will adopt Bitcoin next in any official state capacity. While Russia may not be a near-term contender for Bitcoin adoption, its government is talking about it because it’s on the table. As we all know time will show.
