Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has changed a lot over the past four years. We’ve seen him build and/or strengthen his allegiances with many entities, but unfortunately, Bitcoin just isn’t one of them.
Sure he is desperate for a way to completely detach his economy from America, and yes crypto is the perfect tool for that, but Putin isn’t a fan of things he cannot control.
Which is why his focus is more on a central bank digital currency, and not actual decentralized cryptos. Anyone who pays attention should know that the odds of Putin legalizing Bitcoin as a currency is about as low as it could get.
Crypto wouldn’t give Putin what he wants
What Putin wants more than anything is to not be at the mercy of America and its sanctions and tariffs. But he is a politician, so if he breaks himself and the BRICS away from the dollar, he wants it to be in a way that pains America the most.
And the truth is crypto will not do that.
Not only does it not have the economic power, it’s also too new and too volatile for him to rely on. Now Putin has legalized Bitcoin mining and using crypto for international payments.
But it isn’t for the Russian government. It’s for the citizens and businesses.
The laws will go into effect later this month for cross-border payments and in November for crypto mining.
Putin told top officials that now is the time to regulate crypto, due to how important they are becoming in global payments and how they can help reduce reliance on the dollar.
But he also made it clear that this is mainly to help ease the effects of sanctions and make international payments easier for Russians.
The new law also allows the trading of foreign digital financial assets on Russian blockchain platforms.
But the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) still has the power to block certain assets if they’re seen as a risk to the country’s financial stability.
The central bank said it’s looking into using cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments and hopes to have this ready by the end of the year.
What makes Bitcoin so unreliable?
Bitcoin is a revolutionary creation. No one can argue that. But at the same time, it’s also super sensitive.
As of the time this article was being written, the U.S. government owns over 203,000 BTC worth nearly $13 billion dollars.
The market is constantly on edge over when they might decide to sell them all, which would for sure break Bitcoin and send it crashing.
What do you think will happen to Putin’s economy if he were to rely on a currency this sensitive?
Hell, America could sell just to spite him if he makes it a legal tender. Economies like El Salvador can withstand Bitcoin’s moodiness, but not Russia.
It’s too powerful, and too big for that. The country has 144 million people while El Salvador barely hovers above 6 million. See what I mean?
Ditching the dollar for Bitcoin will put Putin back at the mercy of America. He’s too calculated to let that happen.
Putin’s current choice of a currency to replace the USD is actually a new BRICS digital currency that he and his buddies can control, which makes sense economically.
China’s yuan was his first choice, but he quickly realized that it doesn’t have what it takes to get him what he wants.
He can’t very well try out the Euro, those guys hate him. If it comes down to him or America, they’re for sure picking America.
They’re doing it right now, by throwing their support behind Ukraine’s decision to strike inside Russia.
This is why geopolitics matters more than economics. No matter how powerful an economy is, if their alliances aren’t right, it would crash.
Putin has managed to win over Iran, North Korea, NATO’s own Turkey, UAE, India, and China to help with his agenda. But who knows if he’ll succeed?
And if Trump wins, the plan could change completely.
Putin has said more than once that he likes and respects Trump.
Trump has called Putin “the most strict, smart man I’ve ever met.”
Russia and America could be friends under a Trump administration, though that wouldn’t make Putin back down from his mission.
What he’ll likely do, instead, is work with Trump to find a balance. A way to save his economy without crashing America’s in the process.
Cryptopolitan Reporting by Jai Hamid
