The cryptocurrency continues to polarize the financial world, and now Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his two cents on the matter.
During an interview with Russia 24, the domestic TV network, Putin publicly revealed his personal opinion on bitcoin. He has not openly addressed the issue in the past, but his overall appraisal was a positive one, writes Laura Brodbeck for Benzinga.
Uses for Bitcoin still being explored in Russia
Putin praised the Bank of Russia for its work in exploring how bitcoin could be used in the nation. He stated that the process has been beneficial to Russia, and Bitcoin may be used in the future. Putin did comment on the reliability issues suffered by cryptocurrencies, but claimed that the technology they run on could be used for payments in a slightly different form in future.
The aforementioned reliability issues stem from the fact that the currency isn’t backed by a commodity, according to Putin.
“[Bitcoins] are backed by nothing. This money [is backed by nothing], that’s the point, this is the major problem. They are not really linked to anything and backed by nothing,” Putin said.
As it stands, the Russian President claims that the issues with cryptocurrencies are too important to be overlooked, but Russia is not opposed to cryptocurrencies in principle.
Optimistic outlook from fans of cryptocurrencies
His comments were interpreted positively by backers of cryptocurrencies, who preferred to see the benefit of a lack of outright rejection rather than the lack of concrete plans to adopt Bitcoin. No definitive statements were made during Putin’s interview, although it does seem that he likes the idea of using blockchain to keep accounting records.
“However as an accounting unit, these ‘coins’ or whatever are they called, they can be used, and their adoption becomes wider and wider. As some kind of unit in some account, probably, it’s possible,” Putin continued.
This optimism may arise from the fact that many observers predicted that Putin would be firmly against cryptocurrencies, so the signs are encouraging.
“While Mr Putin didn’t say anything concrete about bitcoin legislation in Russia, it’s definitely a good sign that our government doesn’t want to prohibit something before getting a better insight in the field,” Indacoin CEO Stanislav Kosorukov said.
