Russia announces it will accept Bitcoin for oil, natural gas, and other resources
Pavel Zavalny announced a commitment to making settlements easier for friendly nations but harder for unfriendly nations. Friendly countries including China and Turkey, for example, will be allowed to make settlements with Russia in Bitcoin.
For unfriendly nations, Russia is requiring settlements in rubles or hard assets like gold. Friendly nations can make settlements using their respective national currencies. (pressmia.ru)
“We have been proposing to China for a long time to switch to settlements in national currencies for rubles and yuan. With Turkey, it will be lira and rubles. The set of currencies can be different, and this is normal practice. If there are bitcoins, we will trade bitcoins,”
Pavel Zavalny, Chairman of the Energy Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation
Following sanctions by the west, it is no surprise that Russia is leveraging its power over energy in Europe. History has told us that sanctions not only affect the nations they are set upon but also the citizens of the nation imposing them as well.
“When we exchange with Western countries…they should pay in hard money...and hard money is gold, or they must pay in currencies which are convenient for us, and that is the national currency – ruble. That relates to our ‘unfriendly’ countries.”
Pavel Zavalny, during a press conference organized by the Rossiya Segodnya news agency
Putin has done a 180-degree turn on Bitcoin. Previously, he did not believe oil could be traded with Bitcoin.
“I believe that it has value...but I don’t believe it can be used in the oil trade.”
Vladimir Putin, to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Russian Energy Week event
Recently, Russia and China committed to trading with a new international currency, which I speculate may be a cryptocurrency.
Russia has already begun laying the groundwork to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
