Russian Finance Ministry Says Crypto is “Evil,” But Viable for Trade

Can Russia please invite Max Keiser to give a presentation to the Russian banker class?

I really like the underlying message here, which is that there are very big benefits to using crypto as a trade currency. But there are so many different statements here that are just wrong, or based on something that is wrong, and which would be really easy to correct with expert advice.

RT:

Russia’s Finance Ministry has warned about the dangers of investing in cryptocurrencies, although it acknowledged that digital assets could be useful in certain situations.

Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev described cryptocurrencies as “an evil,” adding that the Bank of Russia shares a similar view.

“Crypto as a whole, of course, is an evil, and I believe that people who invest their savings in it are very much at risk… But there may be specific situations where crypto may be useful,” Moiseev told a banking conference in Moscow.

Speculation is evil. All believers in Bitcoin believe that.

There is a very large difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin speculation.

Digital currencies have a set of benefits such as no correspondent accounts, instant transactions and practically no compliance procedures, and these benefits should be taken advantage of, for example, in foreign trade, the deputy minister suggested.

Cryptocurrencies cannot be used to circumvent sanctions, however, as transactions carried out in the most popular coins are monitored by financial intelligence in all countries, he added.

This is also just wrong.

They can theoretically monitor the transactions – so what? You’re not selling contraband.

I think, frankly, they can also monitor non-SWIFT rubles transactions, especially at any scale, so I just don’t understand the sense of that statement.

Russian importers and exporters have encountered a “colossal number of difficulties” while trying to carry out transactions, Moiseev stated, referring to Western sanctions that essentially cut the country’s businesses off from the international banking system.

Russian companies should be able to use “any available non-criminal” means to be able to carry out foreign trade, he explained, adding that the government is seeking to remove as many barriers as possible, and has started to employ measures that were “unthinkable” before.

Yeah, well.

The Bitcoin community has a lot of thoughts on the previously unthinkable.

I don’t think there is a better man on earth to lay out the basics than Max Keiser, and I think that the fact that this discussion is being had, to the point that it is now public, means that Max should be making a big presentation in Moscow for anyone interested in solving the trade problems Russia is having.

Speculation has harmed Bitcoin and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. But there is nothing preventing Russia and their partners from running their own on-and-off ramps for Bitcoin – i.e., you buy the Bitcoin, you send the Bitcoin, the receiver sells the Bitcoin.

That is a very simple solution.

For now.

For now.

Regarding the fact that the coins are marked – no one cares about that. The fact that a coin has been used in international trade between sanctioned countries does not devalue that coin. Maybe it would make it temporarily unreceivable by certain exchanges, but if the Russian exchange is accessible internationally, people will give you dollars for coins that they may temporarily have a hard time running through Coinbase or whatever.