Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine has seen ripples worldwide, with major financial sectors feeling the heat of the uncertainties and the crypto market also catching a cold.
Russia’s military offensive has drawn the ire of other world superpowers, with the United States and other NATO member countries planning to slap harsh sanctions on Russia. Still, experts had no idea how this could impact the Russian BTC market.
However, Bitcoin miners seem unfazed and are doing what they want by mining without any hassle in the meantime.
According to the index released by the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption, Bitcoin miners are responsible for almost 11.2% of the total global BTC hash rate as of the time of the compilation of the statistics in August 2021.
The imminent sanctions from the US and other NATO-aligned countries against Russia would likely impact Russia’s economy and the local cryptocurrency sector.
Some crypto mining companies have halted their operations in response to the military offensive. Compass Mining, a top BTC mining company in Russia, has announced to its customers that it’s still operational.
The CEO of Compass Mining, Whit Gibbs, took to his Twitter handle to send his thoughts and prayers to the affected parties in the conflict and assure its customers that its facilities in Eastern Europe are safe and away from the conflict zone.
Imminent Sanctions
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has announced that the US government is taking extreme measures against all Russian companies, public and private, government officials, the Russian government, and any other culprits involved in the latest military invasion of Ukraine.
But there are indications that the international sanctions won’t affect the global payment platform, SWIFT, or cryptocurrency transactions. However, the main argument from many quarters is that this is the perfect time for the Russian digital currency industry to blossom. It could be a crucial tool to use in sidestepping some of the international community’s financial restrictions on Russia.
A top industry analyst, Anthony Pompliano, has urged the Russian government to grab the chance offered by the conflict to move away from using the USD as their country’s foreign reserve and instead adopt a decentralized digital currency with global appeal.
According to Pampliano, Bitcoin is the answer to this problem. Russia should seize this opportunity to become an advanced user of the BTC that no single country can claim to control.
The same sentiment is echoed by Mathew Sigel, who told Bloomberg that the Bitcoin network gives Russia the solution to any potential financial restrictions by the international financial institutions, adding that no one can be censored on the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin To The Rescue!
As noted by some of the industry players, the Russian government’s adoption of BTC at this moment will shield it from any harm as a result of an impending financial embargo placed on Russia because no single country, no matter how powerful, can regulate how many Satoshis another country can buy or spend.