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While Kryptos divides world geopolitics, Russia embarks on a unique way. Vladimir Putin, while recognizing the intangibility of bitcoins, is against the categorical rejection of his integration into national reserves. A position that contrasts with the position of Donald Trump, the boiling defender Crypto-Soveraine America. Among the technological fascination and strategic caution, Moscow plays a fine balance on the digital chessboard.
Strategic Care: Gold and Yuan above all
Russia will not take bitcoins to ensure its economic future. Vladimir Kolychev, the Vice -President of Finance, remembered it sincerely: the National Fund for Wealth (NWF) prefers physical gold and Yuan.
With 60 % of Chinese currencies and 40 % precious metals Moscow will lock their reserves against market turbulence. “Digital assets are too volatile for the sovereign fund,” he insists on Kolychev. The choice that reflects irreconcilable logic: Liquidity takes precedence over the bait of profit.
With 11,970 billion rubles ($ 122 billion), NWF is 5.6 % of Russian GDP for 2025. A ratio considered too low to risk. “Under 7 to 10 % of GDP, any exposition would be irresponsible,” the financial expert said.
Putin himself alleviated enthusiasm in 2021: “Bitcoin is of value, but its instability is unsuitable for oil trade. »»
This distrust is not new. Since 2017, the Kremlin framed Kryptos to reduce washing. Strengthened regulation in 2022 by prohibiting crypto payments.
Behind these barriers, however, hides a more nuanant reality: Russia discreetly uses bitcoins to circumvent sanctions. A paradox that reveals a double relaxing strategy. If Moscow brakes on both legs at home Bitcoin, his interest in blockchain reveals a wider ambition.
Blockchain yes, bitcoin no
Vladimir Putin does not refuse the blockchain revolution. His meeting in 2017 with Vitalik Bterin, the founder of Ethereum, testifies. In this technology, the Russian president has seen the lever. The vision that matured: In 2024, Russia gained a legal framework for the use of digital assets … without surrendering to speculative madness.
“No one can forbid bitcoins,” Putin said in December 2024. The shock sentence that summarizes his philosophy: impossible to ignore crypts, but it is unhappy to accept without control.
Thus, Moscow encourages blockchain infrastructure to modernize its key industries (energy, logistics) and at the same time dampened their consumer use. An approach that serves two masters: technological innovations and ruble stability.
On the international scene, Bitcoin becomes a bypass weapon. In the face of Western sanctions, Russia uses it for cross -border transactions, especially with Asian partners or in the Middle East. Discrete but vital tactics to maintain trading flows. Internally, however, the Kremlin camps on his guard: there is no doubt that Kryptus would endanger his cash control.
Russian position on Bitcoin is a smart mixture of realism and distrust. While Trump dreams of American reserves in the crypt, Putin relies on gold, Yuan and domesticated blockchain.
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Evariste, fascinated by Bitcoin since 2017, has not stopped documenting on this topic. If his first interest focused on trading, he now tries to actively understand all cryptocurrency progress. As an editor, he tries to permanently provide high quality work that reflects the condition of the sector as a whole.
Renunciation
The words and opinions expressed in this article are involved only by their author and should not be considered investment counseling. Do your own research before any investment decision.