Russian President Vladimir Putin said there is a need for a new and independent international settlement system amidst the sanctions and restrictions placed on his country.
Vladimir Putin recently discussed the benefits of establishing a worldwide payment system based on blockchain technology in a lecture at the Artificial Intelligence Journey 2022 international AI and machine learning conference.
For President Putin, having a global payments system free from outside influence would be the main benefit. He does point out, however, that combining this technology with other advancements (like artificial intelligence) may make payments more effective and inexpensive. The right application of blockchain technology, according to President Vladimir Putin, may be very advantageous for both users and governments. He said that because of the benefits it offers, a decentralized, non-monopolistic technology will eventually be used on a worldwide scale.
The United States and a portion of the international community levied a number of financial sanctions against Russia following the war between Russia and Ukraine. The capacity of the nation to conduct foreign transactions, particularly Sberbank’s activities abroad, was significantly impacted by these sanctions.
The existing payment system, according to the president, is ineffective and dominated by a tiny club of governments and financial entities. Instead of expanding on his proposal for a blockchain-based payments system, Putin spoke about the necessity for artificial intelligence research and development as well as building a cloud infrastructure that could serve the demands of the entire nation.
Russia Keen on Embracing Crypto
Russia has had a love-hate relationship with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. President Putin now seems to be part of the “pro-blockchain, anti-crypto” movement. Cryptocurrency ownership is legal in the nation, but its usage for financial transactions and other purposes is severely prohibited since doing so would violate the sovereignty of the nation by mimicking the Ruble’s functionality.
Nevertheless, the nation’s political posture has recently become more flexible. The government is reportedly receptive to the concept of sanctioning the creation of a national cryptocurrency exchange, in addition to the president’s demands to research the usage of blockchain technology.
