Putin: It's too early to talk about using cryptocurrencies in oil transactions

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that it is "premature" to use cryptocurrencies to settle transactions for energy resources such as oil.

The Russian president discussed the potential use of cryptocurrencies in an interview with CNBC on Thursday following the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week Forum.

According to the full text of the interview published on the Kremlin's official website, Putin said private cryptocurrencies "can serve as units of account," but they are "very volatile."

“Crypto oil contracts? It’s too early to talk about it. It works in terms of moving money from one place to another, but in terms of trading, especially when it comes to energy resources, it’s still in my opinion. It's too early," the president said.

Putin went on to say that "everything is developing" and "everything has a right to exist," adding that the Russian government is closely monitoring the cryptocurrency market. He also didn't rule out the possibility that cryptocurrencies could become a "means of accumulation" at some point. "We saw how his markets fluctuated. It was a bit early today," Putin added.

Cryptocurrencies “do not have any support yet,” the president said. Asked if he thought the cryptocurrencies held by Tesla CEO Elon Musk were "worthless," Putin said no, explaining that he only questioned cryptocurrencies as tokens in the context of energy transactions. account unit.

In the interview, the Russian president also claimed that the dollar "undercuts" its status as an international reserve asset. He added: "We have no intention of eliminating dollar payments entirely, and so far we have been happy with paying for energy resources (mainly oil) in dollars."

The news comes as Russian authorities consider a new law to limit cryptocurrency investments from non-accredited investors. Earlier, it was reported that the Central Bank of Russia is planning to slow down trading on cryptocurrency exchanges in order to protect retail investors from “emotional” purchases of cryptocurrencies.