After SWIFT Removal Bites Hard — The Bitcoin Camp Has Its Say On Removing Crypto Access From Russians, Sanctions

As international sanctions plummet the value of the Russian currency and threaten the country’s economy, the Bitcoin BTC/USD enthusiast community is having its say on Russia, sanctions and limitations on cryptocurrencies.

Focus On A Non Event: Kyle Schneps, a former diplomat and director of public policy at Foundry, a Digital Currency Group Company, said, “Ukraine is using Bitcoin to defend its citizens from invasion and sustain its democratic way of life.” He pointed out that what wasn't happening was Russia using cryptocurrencies to avoid sanctions. 

“Why does the media focus more on what is NOT happening than on what is happening?”

Happening Now: Ukraine is using Bitcoin to defend its citizens from invasion and sustain its democratic way of life.

NOT Happening Now: Russia using crypto to avoid sanctions.

Why does the media focus more on what is NOT happening than on what is happening?

— Kyle Schneps (@GoBankYourself) February 28, 2022

Notably, Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had requested all major cryptocurrency exchanges to block accounts of Russian users.

Damage Oligarchs, Not People: Bitcoin developer Peter Todd noted that cutting Russia off from the SWIFT network does “more damage to large concentrations of power than to individuals, and that Bitcoin helps individuals more than oligarchs.”

Nah.

A perfectly valid way of reconciling those two positions would be to observe that cutting off swift does more damage to large concentrations of power than to individuals, and that Bitcoin helps individuals more than oligarchs. https://t.co/YbDP9LdNhd

— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) February 28, 2022

Stuck In A Limbo: Even if ordinary Russians manage to move their cryptocurrencies, they might not be able to cash them out and may have to resort to hodling says OANDA Senior Market Analyst Edward Moya. 

“The White House and Treasury are also looking to make it harder for Russians to use crypto to get their money out of Russia,” said Moya in a note, seen by Benzinga.

“The fact is that some Russians have already done that and now they will be stuck hodling until sanctions are removed, because they don't want to risk getting caught and losing their entire crypto investment.”

Intrinsic Value On Display:  On Monday evening, The President of El Salvador and Bitcoin bull Nayib Bukele tweeted that the “intrinsic value of [Bitcoin] is now in full display on the whole world.”

The intrinsic value of #Bitcoin is now in full display on the whole world.

— Nayib Bukele  (@nayibbukele) March 1, 2022

Read Next: Ethereum Creator Vitalik Buterin Has A Message For Pro-Invasion Russian Journalists: 'Go F*ck Yourself'