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The Russian central bank wants to ban investments in cryptocurrencies in Russia, citing the growing number of crypto transactions as a threat to financial stability. Russia Mulls Over Crypto Ban Russia’s central bank is attempting to outlaw cryptocurrency investments, escalating the country’s long-standing distrust of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Future transactions would be prohibited, but present holders would not be forced to sell their holdings. Cryptocurrencies, according to Russian authorities, can be used for money laundering and terrorism financing. According to Reuters, the bank’s current stance on cryptocurrency is a “complete rejection.” Although it is still illegal in Russia to undertake cryptocurrency transactions, a new amendment has made it permissible to invest in and buy cryptocurrencies through exchanges. Any such limitations might stifle Russia’s current retail investment boom, which has seen 15 million Russians create brokerage accounts in the last few years, according to Central Bank estimates. The regulator has already acted quickly to restrict access to other types of risky investment products, anticipating that Russia’s low financial literacy and strong broker marketing might lead to consumers being lured into high-risk investments. If they want to invest in items like options and derivatives, retail investors must must complete a series of examinations. Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of the Central Bank of Russia, increased the fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) around the country’s current state of crypto regulation in a Friday press conference. When asked about the rise of digital assets, Nabiullina said the following, according to finmarket.ru, a local news outlet: “You know that our attitude towards cryptocurrencies is of, to put it mildly, skepticism. Related to this are the significant risks for retail investors and the substantial volatility for this type of asset. In addition, cryptocurrencies are opaque in that they are frequently used for illegal operations or criminal nature. Therefore, we cannot welcome investments in them. We seek to prevent the Russian financial infrastructure from using crypto transactions. This is quite doable.” Related article | Russia Plans To Impound Unlawfully Acquired Cryptocurrencies Illegal Miners To Be Jailed Andrey Lugovoy, a member of parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, has threatened miners with jail if they connect their equipment to the power grid without permission. Lugovoy disclosed in November that his nationalist party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, is preparing to introduce a draft law to govern crypto mining. According to the congressman, the approval of the legislation will help Russian nationals, the state, and entrepreneurs who wish to legitimately engage in business. He has now added, in an interview with the Russian online news outlet Lenta.ru, that mining regulation makes sense. Aside from charging mining businesses varying power prices, the deputy believes their profits should be taxed after deducting the cost of the energy consumed and other expenses such as labor. Lugovoy accused miners of avoiding paying taxes by using subsidized, low-cost electricity. BTC crashes to $46k | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com Related article | Held Accountable: Russia Wants Bitcoin Investors Jailed For Non-Compliance Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView

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A Cornell University economics professor says that the promise of decentralized finance (defi) using blockchain technology is real but bitcoin may not last that much longer. Nonetheless, he admitted bitcoin “has really set off a revolution that ultimately might benefit all of us either directly or indirectly.” Economics Professor Doubts Future of Bitcoin, Praises Defi […]

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Say it isn’t so! Apparently, MicroStrategy ‘s Michael Saylor is considering lending the company’s Bitcoin. On a corporate level, that makes all the sense in the world. As a Bitcoiner, it doesn’t. Will MicroStrategy actually go through with it? Is lending a reasonable strategy? What are the implications? Also, why are hardcore Bitcoiners so against lending? Those questions and more, that’s what we’re here to explore. Related Reading | Michael Saylor Says Bitcoin Is The Oxygen Mask That Will Save Investors In any case, the lending should surprise no one. Saylor has been dropping hints that he intends to do it for a while now. All of this information comes from the “company’s investor day call with shareholders” on Thursday, Bloomberg informs. What Did Saylor Say In MicroStrategy ‘s Call? His exact words were: “There may be opportunities to either put a mortgage against it and generate long-term debt under favorable circumstances, which we could leverage up against the Bitcoin, or we think that we could lend it to a trustworthy counterparty. That could become a good source of income for us, or we could develop it with some kind of interesting applications.” So, they’re still thinking about it and there are a few options on the table. And, even if they choose to lend the Bitcoin for yield, there are infinite possibilities there. What does “a trustworthy counterparty” mean? Is it just a company that can guarantee yield, custody, and return of their BTC? Or are they talking about a company that’ll use that Bitcoin in an ethical way and not short their own investment? That’s one of the main reasons hardcore Bitcoiners are against lending. People who borrow BTC usually use it to short Bitcoin. They bet against the asset and drive the market down. Is that in the best interest of MicroStrategy? Will they partake in the activity for the yield alone? Maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll find a use case in which the lender doesn’t use their Bitcoin for nefarious purposes.  The other reason Bitcoiners are against lending doesn’t affect MicroStrategy. Hardcore Bitcoiners don’t lend their BTC because they don’t want to lose custody. Self-custody is paramount in Bitcoin culture, and the yield isn’t worth the risk of surrendering your BTCs to another entity.  If the rumors are true, Coinbase is already the custodian of MicroStrategy ’s Bitcoin. Make of that what you will. BTC price chart for 12/17/2021 on EXMO | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com MicroStrategy Considers A Bond Option There’s a second quote in the Bloomberg report that points to yet another option. This one might be more akin to what’s going on in the world, but, what do we know? In response to a question, Saylor reportedly said: “I think that we’re still a little bit too soon to say whether there’s a good Bitcoin-backed bond market, but I look forward to exploring that in the future,” he said, adding that he would approach this kind of bond offering if it was accretive to shareholders.”  In other words, MicroStrategy will see how the El Salvador Bitcoin Volcano Bond does, before committing. The eyes of the world are on that investment vehicle, as they’ve been on El Salvador since the country announced the Bitcoin Law. In any case, it should be noted that MicroStrategy is no stranger to bonds. Their “junk bond deal from June (…) currently trades around par, or 100 cents on the dollar, according to Trace bond-pricing data.” Related Reading | Michael Saylor Brings The Thunder To Venezuelan Bitcoin-Only Podcast Bonus: Bitcoin As Digital Property Last but not least, why did we say that Michael Saylor has been dropping hints about the lending of their Bitcoin? Well, in a recent “What Bitcoin Did” episode he talked about Bitcoin being digital property. Perfect. He compared it to a hotel. Ok. In the real world, all hotels have at least 30% of empty rooms. That sounds about right. If that hotel could be in the digital world, the owner could rent all of the rooms all the time, because the demand comes from the whole planet. Where are you going with this, Saylor? In fact, he said, we could rent those rooms every second of every day. WHAT?! This man is definitely considering lending MicroStrategy ‘s Bitcoin. Featured Image by James Coleman on Unsplash – Charts by TradingView

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