TL;DR Breakdown:
- US billionaire Bill Miller says the ongoing crisis is bullish for Bitcoin.
- Russia can adopt BTC as a reserve asset.
- The US wants more regulatory frameworks to ensure crypto isn’t used for sanctions evasion.
More restrictions and tougher sanctions have been globally announced against the Russian Federation following the escalation of the crisis involving Ukraine. Russia reportedly has a significant percentage of its reserve in foreign currencies controlled by the same authorities who pronounced the sanctions.
In this case, US billionaire and investor Bill Miller opined that Russia might seek a self-sovereign alternative like Bitcoin (BTC), and that will be bullish for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
It’s very bullish for Bitcoin particularly
Speaking at CNBC “Squawk Box” on Wednesday, Miller mentioned that the Russian government has almost 50% of their reserve in foreign currencies controlled by the United States and European government, they “people who want to do them harm,” he said. Only 22% of the reserve are held in gold, which isn’t controlled by any government.
Such an allocation is not a great position for Russia. Hence, they could seek an alternative like Bitcoin, which is not controlled by governments and is unaffected by inflation.
“I think this is bullish for Bitcoin particularly. The rest of crypto is different. I think Bitcoin is unique, and the rest of crypto should be considered venture investments,” Miller said.
But, with a cost
Bitcoin adoption in Russia is arguably a top signal but can’t go without a cost. Many speculate that it could be used by Russian authorities to evade the sanctions imposed on the country by the US government. This probably would mean an invitation for US regulators to tighten scrutiny on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, the United States Treasury Department recently asked major cryptocurrency trading platforms to prohibit Russian users from accessing their service to ensure they do not evade the sanctions imposed on the country. Some exchanges didn’t agree to the call but took action against accounts belonging to prohibited persons, Cryptopolitan reported.
More recently, US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, called for more framework to regulate cryptocurrency to ensure they are not used as “a vehicle for terrorist finance and general criminal behavior — tax avoidance and the like.”
