Russia’s Putin says crypto has ‘value’ — but maybe not for trading oil – CNBC

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Illuminated mining rigs operate inside racks at the CryptoUniverse cryptocurrency mining farm in Nadvoitsy, Russia.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks cryptocurrencies have value — but he’s not convinced they can replace the U.S. dollar in settling oil trades.

Some months ago, Russia’s deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, suggested the country could move away from greenback-denominated crude contracts if the U.S. continues to impose targeted economic sanctions.

Asked whether bitcoin or another cryptocurrency could be used as an alternative to the dollar, Putin said it’s “too early to talk about the trade of energy resources in crypto.”

“I believe that it has value,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Russia Energy Week event in Moscow Wednesday. “But I don’t believe it can be used in the oil trade.”

“Cryptocurrency is not supported by anything as of yet,” Putin said. “It may exist as a means of payment, but I think it’s too early to say about the oil trade in cryptocurrency.”

The Russian leader also flagged cryptocurrencies’ massive consumption of energy as a potential barrier to their use. Bitcoin requires lots of computing power to process transactions and mint new tokens.

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