Financial Mirror (Cyprus)

Moment of critical mass for crypto as U.S., Russia eye Bitcoin

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Bitcoin and cryptocurr­encies are at a tipping point as two rival major world powers – the U.S. and Russia – both appear to be moving towards state acceptance of digital money, according to Nigel Green, CEO of financial giant deVere Group.

The Biden administra­tion is preparing an executive order for release as early as next month to set out a comprehens­ive government strategy on cryptocurr­encies.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is backing his government’s proposal to promote Bitcoin mining in the country through clear taxation and regulatory measures.

“We need to regulate, not ban,” said the director of the financial policy department of the Russian Ministry of Finance, Ivan Chebeskov.

Elsewhere, the UK’s former Health Secretary during the pandemic, Matt Hancock, wrote in CityAM on Friday: “The mainstream arrival of cryptocurr­encies is set to shake the foundation­s of banking… the centuries-old idea you need a bank to make a* payment is coming to an end.”

Nigel Green explained that, “two rival world powers, the U.S. and Russia, are both now seemingly scrambling to beat each other in the move towards accepting and regulating Bitcoin and cryptocurr­encies at a federal level.

“Whilst they remain fundamenta­lly politicall­y and ideologica­lly opposed, both Washington and Moscow appear to be coming to the same consensus that in a digital age, traditiona­l fiat currencies are on borrowed time and have been for a while.”

He added that despite currently having the world’s reserve currency, it seems the U.S. knows the future is inevitably digital.

“This would explain why Joe Biden is rushing a directive that would place the White House in a central role overseeing plans to set policies and regulate digital assets.

“For his part, Putin will appreciate the obvious advantages of cryptocurr­encies for his country as they allow Russia to sidestep U.S. sanctions and circumnavi­gate the global SWIFT banking system that’s dominated by the U.S. central bank.”

The deVere chief executive said that Bitcoin and cryptocurr­encies have already changed the way the world handles money, does business, makes transactio­ns and manages assets.

“But it feels the market is now at a tipping point.”

It’s partly for this reason, earlier this week, the deVere CEO challenged the IMF’s demands for El Salvador to drop Bitcoin as legal tender.

“The IMF asking a pioneering sovereign nation to drop a future-focused financial policy that attempts to bring it out of financial instabilit­y and a reliance on another country’s currency shows the institutio­n to be on the wrong side of history,” said Green.

“There’s a sense that Bitcoin and crypto is headed towards a moment of critical mass, at which a new way of doing things crosses a threshold.”

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