Russia’s Putin Says Crypto Has ‘Value’ But Maybe Not For Oil Trade

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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during Russian Energy Week October 13, 2021 in Moscow, Russia.

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes cryptocurrencies have value, but he is not convinced that they can replace the US dollar in settling oil trade.

A few months ago, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak suggested the country could move away from greenback-denominated crude contracts if the United States continued to impose targeted economic sanctions.

When asked if bitcoin or another cryptocurrency could be used as an alternative to the dollar, Putin said it was “too early to talk about trading in crypto energy resources.”

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

“Cryptocurrency is not supported by anything yet,” Putin said. “It may exist as a form of payment, but I think it’s too early to comment on cryptocurrency oil trading.”

The Russian leader also pointed to the massive energy consumption of cryptocurrencies as a potential obstacle to their use. Bitcoin requires a lot of computing power to process transactions and create new tokens.

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