Bitcoin for Russian gas? Russian Duma could accept BTC to circumvent western sanctions

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – On Mar. 24, Russian Duma announced it would consider accepting Bitcoin payments for its oil and gas exports. However, the courtesy will be extended to “friendly” countries only, such as China and Turkey.

In translated comments, the chair of Duma’s committee, Pavel Zavalny, noted that Russia would accept the buyer’s domestic currency.

We’ve been offering China a transition to Ruble and Yuan payments for a while now. For Turkey, the Lira and Ruble option would work. The basket of currencies could be different, that’s a common practice. If it’s Bitcoin, then we’ll trade in Bitcoin.

said Mr. Zavalny in an interview with Russia Today.

Also read: U.S. bans Russian oil and gas import as risk assets tumble against the record-high fuel prices.

The European Union would have to pay in Rubles and gold exclusively, as President Vladimir Putin announced on Mar. 23. Moreover, he pointed out that the export to the EU will continue in prior agreed-upon quantities, as Russia “cherishes its reputation of a reliable partner and supplier.”

Stronger Ruble?

Nic Carter, the co-founder of Coin Metrics, commented on Russia’s attempts to bypass the stiffening sanctions from the West.

Russia is clearly looking to diversify into other currencies. But the country wasn’t fully prepared for foreign FX assets to be frozen. They have something the world needs. Russia is the No. 1 exporter of natural gas globally.

— asserted Carter.

Notably, the “hostile nations’ will have to acquire Rubles first, either from the Central Bank of Russia or on the foreign exchange market. Both avenues pose difficulties for the European countries. Moreover, either way of purchasing Ruble will strengthen the currency and possibly reverse the drastic fall of its value since invading Ukraine.

Also read: Ruble under threat as SWIFT bans Russia from global banking system; Bitcoin rebounds.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if Bitcoin has enough liquidity to support international trade transactions of that magnitude. However, the alpha crypto’s spot value spiked after the news and stood at over $44,000 ahead of the European session Friday.

Bitcoin for the win? Not so fast

Despite a possible boost in adoption and a nearly 10% price advance in the previous four days, the BTC/USD price action flashed bearish technical warnings. In detail, the digital asset formed an Ascending Triangle on the daily chart, a continuation pattern that tends to bring about the same bias preceding the setup.

Moreover, the resistance bar at $45,000 has hindered all of BTC’s upside attempts year-to-date. Bitcoin arrived at the crucial margin on Mar. 25 and could either break or retest the bar in the upcoming hours.

Also read: WTF Bitcoin! BTC price drops towards $38K after U.S. inflation hits four-decade high. 

Should the break occur, BTC bulls could expect further gains. However, another retest would confirm the bearish setup and send the alpha crypto south. Friday’s session close will shed more light on the matter.