Putin’s mentioning of ‘coins’ at an educational forum for the young people provoked a wide range of reactions from bitcoiners and non-bitcoiners, both Russian and foreign.

As CoinFox repоrted yesterday, Vladimir Putin told the participants of Klyazma Youth Forum that it is possible to use cryptocurrencies “in certain segments of economy” though they “have no real basis”. He also acknowledged he has been discussing cryptocurrencies with Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Russian Central Bank who has recently spoken favourably about bitcoin.

The president of Russia did not mention the word “bitcoin”, speaking instead of ‘something-coins’. His press-secretary, Dmitry Peskov later explained that Putin’s words were “not specifically about Bitcoin”, but bitcoin community was quick to react.

Some reactions were positive. Putin’s words about cryptocurrencies were taken as a sign that the Russian government is not going to ban bitcoin. A Reddit user wrote: “It appears as a very reasonable comment by a head of state. I am very pleasantly surprised.” A Bitcointalk user echoed this: “I think that's awesome news, he didn't express his support but he also didn't condemn it.” Another commentator told: “Your turn, Barack Obama.”

A number of commentators made jokes, telling, for instance, that Putin is a real Satoshi Nakamoto. Others looked for hidden motives in his words. Citing a CoinFox article about the change of stance of Russian Central Bank towards cryptocurrencies, a Reddit user suggested that the real reason was that “some high ranking Russians have invested in bitcoin”. Others suggested that Putin looked towards bitcoin as a means of escaping Western sanctions and welcoming “anything that can help avoid the financial restriction”.

Some users remarked they did not need a permission from a dictator to use bitcoin. Perhaps the most critical comment was left by the Reddit user earthmoonsun:

“The problem with Putin and Russia is that today he says this and tomorrow he announces that. You can't really trust him. Long-term planning is almost impossible.”