Russia May Start Selling Its Oil & Gas For Bitcoin As Western Sanctions Intensify

Amid stiffening sanctions from the western nations over its Ukraine invasion, Russia is reportedly considering accepting Bitcoin as payment for its oil and gas exports, as per a report in CNBC.

What Russia¡¯s Head Of Energy Committee Said

In a videotaped news conference held yesterday, the chair of Russia¡¯s Duma committee on energy and President of Russian Gas Society, Pavel Zavalny, reportedly said in translated remarks that "When it comes to ¡°friendly¡± countries such as China or Turkey, Russia is willing to be more flexible with payment options".

He further stated that the national fiat currency of the buyer, as well as Bitcoin, was being considered as an alternative way to pay for Russia¡¯s energy exports.

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In translated comments, he said ¡°We have been proposing to China for a long time to switch to settlements in national currencies for rubles and yuan. With Turkey, it will be lira and rubles.¡±

The President of the Russian Gas Society added ¡°You can also trade Bitcoins.¡±

The price of the cryptocurrency reportedly spiked around the time that news reports of Zavalny¡¯s remarks first came up yesterday.

The head of the energy committee also doubled down on President Vladimir Putin¡¯s promise to require ¡°unfriendly¡± countries to pay for gas in Russian rubles. Putin¡¯s announcement sent European gas prices soaring over worries the move might aggravate an energy market already under pressure.

¡°If they want to buy, let them pay either in hard currency, and this is gold for us, or pay as it is convenient for us, this is the national currency,¡± Zavalny said in comments that echoed the president¡¯s warning, as per CNBC.

Also Read: The Collapse Of Ruble-How & Why The Russian Currency Had Plummeted In 1998 & 2014

Moving Away From Dollar

Amidst all these recent announcements, it's fair to say that Russia now appears to be serious about moving away from the dollar, and the natural gas exporter could potentially convert energy reserves into hard assets that could be used outside the dollar system.

However, it's unclear whether Bitcoin¡¯s relative lack of liquidity could support international trade transactions of that magnitude.

Also Read: Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Says Bitcoin Will Replace The US Dollar

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