Russia Looks Positively At Bitcoin For Mining And Payments

Russia is positively looking at Bitcoin (BTC) to conduct mining activities and settle payments across borders. This comes after the war that is currently ongoing between Russia and Western countries in Ukraine. Gazprom, one of the largest gas companies in the world, could reduce its carbon footprint by mining Bitcoin using flare gas. Furthermore, due to the lack of payment options that the country currently has, Russia could start using Bitcoin payments for international settlement. 

Russia Could Use Bitcoin for Mining and Payments

Bitcoin could soon be used by Russia to conduct cross-border transfers and to settle international payments. The head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, talked about cryptocurrencies and the use of Bitcoin within Russia and to conduct international payments. 

She said that their position is clear when it comes to using Bitcoin as a unit of account within the country. However, she said that as long as Bitcoin does not penetrate the Russian financial system, it could be possible to use it in international settlements. 

Russia has been excluded from the SWIFT network and it has been blacklisted by different third-party payment services. Therefore, Russia has few possibilities and alternatives to get access to payments from different countries for the commodities that it produces and the services that it exports to other regions. 

Bitcoin could be an alternative way for Russia to get access to markets that it lost in recent months. Let’s not forget that Bitcoin is a fully decentralized virtual currency that is not controlled by any centralized authority and that continues to attract investors from all over the world. Due to its decentralization nature, Russia could use Bitcoin to process cross-border transfers without being worried about getting its funds blocked or confiscated. 

Another thing that is worth taking into consideration about Russia’s look into Bitcoin is related to how the Russian government continues to establish key links among players in the energy sector. Gazprom, one of the largest gas companies in the world, could start powering Bitcoin mining operations using wasted energy. 

BitRiver would develop the necessary infrastructure for the energy company to start generating earnings from Bitcoin mining activities without the need to use new energy. Indeed, the goal is to use waste energy (gas) that would otherwise never be used and released into the atmosphere. 

Despite Bitcoin’s recent price action, there are many projects in Russia that involve Bitcoin and the use of virtual currencies for international payments and mining. This would not only help Russia get access to valuable resources, but it would also show how Bitcoin can help fight against the centralization of the current financial system around the world. 

According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is now being traded 30% below the price that it had seven days ago. Moreover, Bitcoin’s price is now below $20,000, the lowest price since the end of 2020. It would be very important to follow how Bitcoin could behave in recent weeks and whether it would be able to recover part of the price that it lost in recent months. 

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