Will Russia switch to cryptocurrencies if SWIFT blockade is implemented?

With the restrictions imposed by the US and other countries against the Russian banking system, and the possibility of Russia being excluded from the SWIFT payment network, Bitcoin and crypto assets may turn the corner.

U.S. President Joe Biden promised to impose a wave of restrictions on Russian banks and financial institutions. He said that after talks with GXNUMX leaders, the two sides fully agreed to exclude Russia from the global economy by limiting its access to major currencies.

“We will limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen as part of the global economy. We will limit their ability to do so.”

Consideration is also being given to excluding the country from the SWIFT payment network. This would limit the ability to transfer funds from abroad to Russian banks.

British Prime Minister Boris Jensen is pushing “very hard” for Russia to withdraw from SWIFT, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba :

“Everyone who now doubts that Russia should be restricted by Swift must understand that the blood of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children will also be in their hands by restricting SWIFT's access to Russia.”

Switching to Bitcoin

SWIFT is a Belgian organization used by more than 11,000 banks and financial institutions worldwide and processes around 420,000 messages per day. It has recently been criticized as a slow, expensive and outdated way to send money, but it remains the industry standard.

If Russia wishes to avoid these severe restrictions, the time is ripe to adopt cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.