Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a very crypto-friendly comment during an interview, saying that Cryptocurrencies have the ‘right to exist.’ Putin told CNBC that one day, digital currencies would find a way to make inception into the economy as a ‘means of accumulation’ although he clarified that such a market is still unstable.
“Cryptocurrency contracts? It’s too soon to talk about this. Because cryptocurrencies, of course, can be used as a unit of account, but they are very unstable. Using them to transfer funds from one place to another. But, in my opinion, it is still premature to trade with crypto, especially when it comes to trading energy resources,” the Russian President replied to questions about using virtual currencies as a means of payment in export deals, specifically in the oil industry.
Also, Putin made it clear that although cryptos are not backed by anything tangible, as they are ‘electronic resources’, he does not think that digital assets are worthless, contrary to JP Morgan CEO’s words that made the headlines this week about Bitcoin (BTC). “Why? Crypto does have worth. The question here is just whether it can be used as a unit of account when buying and selling oil? That’s all I’m talking about. For energy trading, it is necessary to use traditional units, particularly in the case of hydrocarbons,” he added. The transcript of the conversation was released on the Kremlin's website.
Too Early to Forecast Crypto Market’s Future
So far, Putin does not want to have a clear stance on what future he foresees for the cryptocurrency industry, as he believes it is ‘a bit early’ to pass a judgment on the matter.
This week, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s Chief Executive Officer, said that Bitcoin is ‘worthless’ and that cryptocurrencies will be regulated at some point. “No matter what anyone thinks about it, the government is going to regulate it. They are going to regulate it for (anti-money laundering) purposes, for (Bank Secrecy Act) purposes, for tax,” he commented.
