Russia is a very huge and powerful market for cryptocurrency as per resources. Therefore if Russian Government decided to adopt or replace the standard money with cryptocurrency by launching its own coin, it will impact the global economy. President Vladimir Putin issued a very cryptic, and mostly negative statement about cryptocurrency during his annual live question and answer session called “Direct Line” with the Russian public on, June 7th.

Mr. President was responding to a question during the session from a Russian Journalist Artem Khokholikov who asked him three questions regarding Russian Government stance about the digital currency.

Will Russia have its own cryptocurrency? Will it be controlled by the government? Do you think that in the near future cryptocurrency will completely replace our regular, standard money?

Putin was very precise in his answers that Russia cannot have its own cryptocurrency, because as cryptocurrency “by definition” cannot be owned by a centralized state since it “goes beyond borders”. Further, he explained as far as “so-called mining” concerns it is not something that Russia will not regulate the process but at the same time we will have to “treat it very carefully”.

President Putin explained the third part of the question regarding crypto as a form of payment or replacing Russian fiat currency with cryptocurrency. He said although financial experts say that Japan has partially adopted crypto as their mode of payment but it doesn’t mean that it will work for other countries as well.

The relationship of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to cryptocurrency is that it considers cryptocurrency neither a means of payment nor a store of value. Cryptocurrency is not backed by anything. One should treat it cautiously, carefully. Vladimir Putin

Putin further explained the Russian Government stance on crypto, he added that we must keep an eye on this “phenomenon developing in the world” and as many other countries are switching over and adopting digital currency, we have to determine how Russia can “participate in the process”, and “how we can use it in order to avoid any restrictions in the field of international financial activity,”