Topic: Banning Bitcoin is Like Banning the Internet, Says Russia’s Finance Minister (Read 838 times)

nowadays, stopping Bitcoin is an impossible act...

Bitcoin transactions per hour have reached millions of times and are spread all over the world, even countries that close themselves off from the international world such as North Korea and China alone have quite a lot of bitcoin transactions. Currently, using the Tor network for bitcoin transactions is not difficult, so the sentence "banning bitcoin, like banning the internet" is valid.

Even if you ban it, people would be able to use VPN to overcome that so they know this, they have tried to limit the way Russians use internet before, and they have limit what type of freedoms Russians will get, and they always fail because internet is just way too free to be limited. You could even do bad things online nowadays in the darknet, hopefully nobody ever uses that again but it's there, it's usable and it's not cool at all.

In the end, crypto is a lot like that, they are not saying they will cut themselves out of global internet neither, the fact that they "act" like it is just a way to scare people but in the end they know they can't, and that is why they won't.

But its not bad to have some comparison or presuming about similarities between the two.Yes, it might be talking about monetary network but it would be mainly focusing on decentralization which is

something a real or big thing on where people or community would really be praising or like on.Internet is something revolutionary same as Bitcoin too, it is really just having some certain extent
when it comes to actual utility which is really just common sense.If he do say up those words then he do literally just expect too much into btc.

In some ways he is correct. I think the statement is a bit dramatic, but in essence, he is stating that banning bitcoin would be a huge blow to technological advancement. While I do agree with this, I don't think that bitcoin's impact on the world will be quite like the internet.

The internet enables people from across the world to share information in an instant. Bitcoin is a decentralized monetary network that serves to take the middle man out of fiscal exchanges.

Two different things imo.

What do you mean by that, I believe crypto currency will only provide a better alternative to primary currency but not a replacement. Even though bitcoin can not get banned from any government and as the internet money once there is internet then anybody can access the blockchain without any restrictions.

Cryptocurrencies of the future may be able to achieve a full replacement of money

There is no way to make bitcoin banning possible. The country may impose a ban on it, but the effect is just temporary. People will always find ways on how they can benefit the technology that bitcoin has. And since bitcoin is part of the newest technology, so people will have all the rights to take advantage on it. However, if banning internet will be possible, bitcoin will also be banned. But it seems that the internet nowadays has been the best outlet for us to gain good knowledge. And that's what actually bitcoin is going to take its path.

People can't live without internet nowadays, and so bitcoin is slowly becoming too. The government should have to shut down the internet first before they can totally ban bitcoin. Otherwise, banning becomes ineffective.

In most countries, since they can't ban bitcoin, so they just started to regulate it. I think that is better. If they can't ban bitcoin, at least they can make money from it. IMHO, the government or any central bank can't ban bitcoin, only its citizens can be ban from using it.

Well said by "Russia’s Financial Minister Anton Siluanov that Banning Bitcoin is Like Banning the Internet.
It very good and powerful statement by the minister for the community working for bitcoin. This is a very positive statement based on reality regarding today's world economy and the quickly changing situation. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are a reality that cannot be ignored. Bitcoin is getting popular in all communities working on the internet. And it is liked by all ages of persons.
So, I appreciate his statement about bitcoin.

The technicality aside, you could "ban" it. You may not be able to stop it, because people could use satellites to get internet from other places, there are global companies that offer horrible bandwidth and speed, but it is there. But that is not about banning, that is about stopping. So if Russia bans it, then they can, and people could either stop, or they could try to find alternatives.

On the other hand, they can't really afford to get out of international internet, because that would put even further economical problems to them on top of the current ones that they have, which is why I doubt it would happen anyway, it would probably not happen.

True. Convenience in a way that we can now communicate seamlessly but other than communication, the internet now allows people to buy stuffs or pay online. The idea of digital payments came because of it and so as the creation of cryptocurrencies later on because other digital currencies has their own restrictions and issues while cryptos don't have.

Crypto is said to be the money of the internet but you can't say that the internet is like a crypto because I think that internet is more centralized. It is possible for it to get banned or shutdown, like what is planning with Russia right now. Not all leaders are selfish but if they are then we can use a crypto to experience freedom somehow.

Practically it is not possible to completely ban the Internet in Russia. There are some attempts to limit the internet access in Russia as there has been a lot of cyberattacks being conducted in Russia. Though all the steps taken by the Russians are temporary in lieu of the current circumstances and there is no plan to disconnect Russia from the outside world.
Russia’s denying that it’s about to cut itself off from the global internet, but it’s acting a lot like it.

And speaking of that though, the West is trying to disconnect and isolate Russia completely off the internet as some firms are already pulling out from the country. But for now, Russia has its own called RuNet. As they are feeling the wrath of the Western sanctions, BTC is their alternative to fund themselves. Although that it is a good alternative to counter these sanctions, but it’s not enough to rebuild their economy back to its old self.

Wouldn't be the first time I've heard the sentiment of laws being crafted to protect the people. Bitcoin regulations are no exception. The precise verbiage of any one law doesn't matter - the goal is the same, to decrease the usage of crypto in hopes of people reverting back to normal currency. What starts out as innocuous regulations and laws, as you suggest, inevitably turns into an outright ban. It's difficult to recall when government has responsibly been given power that does not conclude in abuse. What exact regulations do you purpose for crypto currency that would make the sector better? Perhaps you have more faith in a competent governmental system, because I surely do not.

It is also showing how the whole world could be connected together thanks to crypto so easily. People all around the world, from any nation could be donating to Ukraine right now. Instead of waiting for the nearby nations to help them, Ukraine could use this money to protect themselves.

This is a proof that regular traditional monetary system is slow and they need to make it a lot better, whereas crypto is miles ahead and they are definitely doing this a lot better. I do not know how people could see this as a bad thing, sure Russians could be using it to avoid sanctions but it is also used for Ukrainians to help save themselves at the same time, why not focus on that part?

Time will come that they would just simple ignore it because they cant do anything about it.Pretty sure that they've been trying to look for ways on how to get rid of it because decentralization is always not that appealing

into their eyes considering that it do really opposes on what they do like thats why they do really have  this common negative stance towards it but some places or countries had no choice because they couldnt do anything
thats why its better to adopt or recognize it rather than on banning on it because it would really be that pointless on doing so they do only do the opposite instead.

I believe is high time the government stop disturbing their selfs about bitcon, I believe bitcon have come to stay and I don't think their is anything that can change that, they should should just adopt bitcoin because I don't think any country can ban their citizens from using bitcoin because they will definitely look for a way to transact it.

That says one thing which is banning bitcoin is impossible because it's impossible to ban the internet.

As what we are witnessing now, particularly the war of two countries (Russia and Ukraine), we now see how useful bitcoin is because we can send donations to Ukraine to bitcoin instantly, and that would not be possible through fiat if payment centers are not operating. That's just one thing. If we try to analyze the current scenario, this tells us how a decentralized asset would be so useful when our economy struggles and our government is not functioning.

I don't really know why most countries are just disturbing their self about banning bitcon, I don't think banning bitcon can be possible again, if any country ban bitcoin I believe the citizens will definitely use VPN to access different exchange because only the governments are against bitcoin and not the citizens.

The struggle for power and personal ambitious interests of Putin in Russia are above any logic and interests of the people. As we can see, after Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, when things there not only went wrong, but turned into a disaster, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram were turned off in Russia, and now, perhaps, the Internet will be completely turned off. For the sake of cryptocurrency, the Internet, of course, would not be turned off there. But for the sake of preserving the ruling regime, it turned out to be quite possible. In Russia, they are trying to hide the truth about the war in Ukraine from their people, they still do not believe that the Russians can bomb the cities of Ukraine, and even more so kill its civilians.
Putin is now going to great lengths to delay the indignation and anger of his people, not only with the results of the aggression against Ukraine, but also with the results of the international sanctions imposed. In Russia, they may not turn off the Internet only if the hidden information still breaks through and the shutdown itself turns out to be useless.

Stopping the development of crypto in a country is certainly impossible, in my opinion, rather than banning or stopping crypto, it is certainly better for a country to regulate and implement clear regulations about crypto so that they can get the benefits, the development of an increasingly modern era of course makes people tend to think critically and want easy things in their lives, including ease of transactions and investments, and so far we have  seen if crypto  proven offers these two conveniences to its users, and obviously it will be difficult for a country to ban or shut down crypto which has been used illegally and legally in a country including Russia so far.

As you know and what the Russian Minister said, I agree with what he said, it means this: the internet can't be touched, it's shapeless, but the internet can be enjoyed and used by many people.

Bitcoin has almost the same properties as the internet, the Russian minister is right, if you can touch the internet you can touch bitcoin, in fact you can't.

So, not a few countries or certain parties want to ban Bitcoin, in fact it's all in vain, they realize they can't do anything about Bitcoin, many countries are not illegal and not legal Bitcoin, let it run like time goes round and round, that's what many countries do.

I cannot agree more. Way back, many countries and many attempts they have failed to ban the Internet. It kept prospering beyond their control which resulted for it to become well-known and used all around the world. Despite their tries to contain it, they didn't manage because that's how powerful Internet was and currently is. Just like how bitcoin is. No matter how hard they try to regulate and eliminate it, they won't be able to do it, since it has so many patronage and banning it would just cost them and not the other way around. Surely, people would keep on finding ways on how to utilize it if they would outrught ban it. And I really doubt they would because that could pose a loss for them as well. Maybe they could attempt to regulate it in accordance to law and their liking, but the way it would work, most particularly the dynamics would definitely won't be altered.

It's coffee money. Just like PayPal. Visa and master. It goes nowhere without full appreciation in all instances.

Play money.

Forgot! What's the agenda?

The Internet has brought us convenience, and so has cryptocurrencies. The internet is like cryptocurrencies, and no country can completely ban both. These leaders of the country want to control the masses completely. People are not free.

No matter what is the stance on bitcoin for both Russian and Ukraine governments, one thing they must have realized by now is that bitcoin does not lose its value as much as the local fiat currency in war situations.
Both these governments have realized this by now and they may take steps to regulate the crypto in near future. People need to change their mindset about cryptocurrencies.

we have already witnessed so many cases that there is a banning issues but even in the countries that has strict regulation and totally banning bitcoin? still the currency is circulating using different tools from the people so ban? no way this will not be implemented completely .

that is the reality , that people will still seek on how to trade and circulate bitcoin , so those who wanted to do the banning? is just like trying to shoot the stars .

I totally agree with the financial minister, banning bitcoin and cryptocurrency assets is truly like banning internet. Those who ban it are only shooting themselves on thier own foot, it's totally simple, Russians central bank are just beating about the bush, the truth remains that most central banks in the world fear that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will put them out of business, so they devise all means, come up with bogus reasons to cajole the entire country into  believing their lies and banning crypto.
My question now is, what is more risky than the useless fiat paper money which has been loosing its value and robbing people off their wealth through inflation since its inception?

How i would love Russia talking like this but not talking about war, they deserve to praise everything but not to invade any country.

if this words comes out from their mouth without any conflict in others? then this is really a helpful matter but now seeing them having sanctions here and there? i don't think this would bring any help in our crypto market.

They will always find a way how to resolve their situation as their movement is getting limited because of the sanctions.
And going into crypto, is one alternative to move their funds, without much restrictions.
Before, we know, they have different stance towards crypto, now, they are changing their perspectives.
It is only a matter of time for other governments to recognize the benefits brought by crypto.
We welcome their regulations but total banning is seems to be futile as their people can still go around with it.

Politicians sell themselves as idealist, however they are for the most part incredibly pragmatic, basically if something works against their interests they are going to be against it, and if it works in their favor then they will embrace it, with all the sanctions Russia is facing then they need an alternative and while without a doubt they did their homework and prepared themselves for the harsh economic sanctions they received, they are now seeing if they can use bitcoin for their benefit, so I am not surprised they are embracing it at all.

Indeed, they are now accepting Bitcoin. It certainly change their minds knowing the fact that Bitcoin is not a threat to the economy but it was a helping tool to grow instead. The people from Russia have been so hopeful to have this and seeing the support from the government will eventually boost their courage and go for adoption.

Just like many countries, Bitcoin somehow helps people's lives, giving them hope to improve their living, and Banning Bitcoin is really not a helpful decision but it only makes people hate the government.

This will be very difficult or impossible to do then, won't it? Bitcoin is global, not only based on one country so the government may be difficult to control and manage Bitcoin itself. Moreover, the characteristic is digital. We may catch or punish people who may be related to Bitcoin. But not with Bitcoin where it has no physics. In this case, we can see how Bitcoin is actually difficult to be banned. But some countries always make it worse with the bad news and information, dismisinformation actually. ANd I am sure enough that I agree with Rusia that it is difficult to do baning on bitcoin so far.

Crypto has becoming more beneficial these days as its real value as already tested from this war. For Ukraine government, it serves a lot of potentials. But for Russia, Putin is somewhat skeptical having it as a currency but i think he recognized it as a currency way back last year in his interview. But the idea of banning it this time could mean a very impossible move since bitcoin has started to take its break. However, regulating it on the other hand can bring a lot of benefits not just for the citizens in Russia but it could also help the country itself to create more progress.

Right now, Putin has not felt yet the impact of what he is doing. But I believe, he is ready for whatever possible consequences of his actions. If most of the world will cut off Russia, can they survive? I believe they can. But its people won't like that. This is why a lot of Russians are protesting this move. Aside from the reason that they don't want more blood to sacrifice on this senseless war. A month from now, we will see the aftermath of this war. So hopefully, by then, it has already stopped and both leaders have come to some resolution. But I don't think Putin will just let Ukraine govern on their own.

But at the moment, we are seeing that there are crypto donations going to the Ukraine government, which we can see, as a good side of crypto during this crisis. I don't think US and other EU territories will ban bitcoin or crypto, because as the heading already states, it is like banning the internet. They can only regulate this industry for the benefit of people.

I know most of Russian people do not support Putin and they have nothing to do with the war,those who support war are very few and I guess they are brainwashed.Unfortunately you cannot do nothing to stop sanctions and the removal from the SWIFT international payment linking a lot of countries,also Russian economy will go soon bankrupt,unfortunately Russia has not realized this yet.The only thing you can do is to stand up against this idiot Putin who lives in 1989 again and want to reestablish the great Soviet Union,this is not going to happen.

I am sorry that the consequences of a mad man like Putin will be beard by the innocent people of Russia.

Just like the internet where lots of people rely on it daily because it's useful. You can connect to the people and get pieces of information, the same thing with bitcoin where lots of people rely on it because they can earn an income with it if they use it for asset use. People can also buy or pay without borders if they use it as a currency.

Bitcoin is coined as the money of internet or online money. If they ban it, there will be no internet currency. The internet won't be completed without it. Banning BTC is worse than regulating it because once they ban it, no one can use it while if they only regulate, there are people that are still willing to use it.

The situation is very unfavorable for us. Today, the US and Western decide to remove some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system. They also have some plans to tighten their grip on crypto if Russia uses crypto to circumvent the law to avoid sanctions. If this happens then we will face a terrible downtrend.

It's economical and timely that they should do legalize bitcoin as soon as possible. SWIFT has banned them and they're already blocked which means that bitcoin is going to play a big role for their transfers. Bitcoin is more than a technology on these times and on their situation, it's really going to help not just them but as well as Ukraine. Oh well, this war thing is making everyone exhausted despite all of the good news that's related to cryptocurrencies, we can't ignore the bigger factor about war.

agree, regulating bitcoin is a wise thing a country can do instead of banning it. I believe many crypto businesses are willing to pay big taxes and contribute to the country if their bitcoin assets are legally safe. the more countries that regulate bitcoin, the more we will see the economies of these countries increase drastically.

I think he is right and saying well because the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have a good impact on the nations and mostly are relying on it. So I think this is not a good thing to ban Bitcoin.

With the usage of cryptocurrency once after the war between Ukraine and Russia Economist Alex Kruger Warns Russia Using Crypto To Escape Sanctions. In his statement he mentioned


The usage of cryptocurrency on sanctions would affect the cryptocurrency market negatively. This is same for stocks and cryptocurrency. The precious metals were gonna turn high. Does this impact can be experienced on the market.

Alex Kruger Warns Russia Using Crypto To Escape Sanctions

Definitely agree 100%.  Those who failed to adopt and adapt always suffer. It is the law of nature whenever there is a new path towards the future, those who failed to take it, perish at worst.  Though I am a pro-Bitcoin, countries can just copy the technology behind cryptocurrency, improve and develop it and can't regret anything since they are still on the path of "future finance".  I believe countries can't simply adopt technology that they don't have full control that is why there is always conflicting and resisting acceptance towards Bitcoin. But the good thing with Bitcoin is that it is not bound to any country and everyone can possibly access it just like the internet.


I don't think western country's acceptance of Bitcoin will be affected when Russia adopts it.  The only thing that will be affected is the Bitcoin-related services stationed or created by Russia.

Thanks for sharing this. My favorite quote “ The Central Bank wants to take and ban crypto-assets, cryptocurrencies, arguing that this creates risks, primarily for citizens, can “infect” financial institutions, banks, and create an opaque settlement market. This is the same as banning the Internet, which is impossible. – The minister argued”.

As much as I hate Putin it’s nice seeing this, that he’s willing to be open to listing to others with more expertise.

I think there  is some  risk that if Russia will try to adopt bitcoin on a large scale, it would result  in serious  regulation or even ban in the western countries. The situation is very hot right now, so let's hope Bitcoin won't get caught in a crossfire.

Yeah, if they ban the internet before I don't think we all have come this far? Internet is one of the greatest invention in human kind history, it allows us to gather information around the world in just a second. Internet is used for everyday life in order to evolve and look how far our technology evolving these days? Smartphones aren't a thing in the past but once it was invented look at it now how a video feed, voice feed and internet at the same time in just a single smartphone.

The same with Bitcoin and since Bitcoin is decentralized they can't completely ban it and all they could do is to release a bunch of rules and regulations.

So far, banning Bitcoin may be easy by creating certain regulations. But it doesn't mean it is able to stop the Bitcoin movement and adoption even in the country itself. Many people can still access and do activities with Bitcoin, doing trading, investing, using as payment and other things related to Bitcoin. Because Bitcoin is decentralized. ALthough it may be risky, many people or citizen are still involved in Bitcoin.
That may be what actually that government exerince. That is why currently Russia is planning to accept Bitcoin. Or is it because of the war conflict?

Some countries have decide to ban bitcoin in their places but they always come unsuccessful. Because you cannot ban a certain once it has already become inevitable. So in case of bitcoin, banning would be very impossible, its better to regulate it.

"The solution lies in regulating, not banning, Anton Siluanov told officials at the central bank. This would not only protect investors, it would also ensure that the country doesn’t lose out on millions in taxes from the burgeoning industry," he believes. Source: https://coingeek.com/russia-finance-chief-banning-bitcoin-is-like-banning-the-internet/

nothing new with what the Russian finance minister said, people who have been in bitcoin for a long time, have realized that first. Bitcoin has spread to become unstoppable, those who say bitcoin can be banned are just saying fantasy.

The finance minister is very like minded, than his willing he is much concerned about the war situation. Right now it is helping it's citizens. This seems to be the reason why he's much into legalizing of bitcoin. From just a technology it has been transforming with its different varied usage and has been transforming lives into a new space.

At least there's someone like this finance minister who's very like-minded and understands the potential of bitcoin. The central bank can tell its implications to him but we're sure that he's not gonna change his mind with what he see with bitcoin. It may still take time since Russia is doing something that's more important than it. As what the finance minister has said, I think I've read that from someone already through the forum that has said the same thing. It is an inevitable technology and not just a technology but also plays a big role to the online and finance economy which is sharing more than $700M in market cap but has reached $1B during its ATH.

If that the Russia government and central bank went ahead to ban bitcoin, there wouldn’t be much that they would be able to do to affect the cryptocurrency market, the only thing that would is that they will cut off  the transactions between users banks and the cryptocurrency exchanges (the centralized exchanges, to be specific).

Although that might have a little effect on the market for sometime, for the fact that a lot of people makes use of centralized exchanges as a way to make things easier for themselves when trading cryptocurrency, so they will be able to easily encash their money. But within a short time, a lot of people will switch to P2P.

I also really agree with your review there is no reason for any government to ban the internet, and cut off the internet, because the internet has become a part of our lives, but if there are countries that prohibit bitcoin, it is their government's decision, we can't ban it either, but I also totally agree with your review, even though one country prohibits bitcoin, there will definitely be other countries that accept bitcoin..

The debates will likely be ended up positive and it favors Bitcoin adoption than banning it. I see no reason why Russia will close a deal over Bitcoin as they know, the Presidents knows what seems best for their citizen, it was the internet that gives life now and this Bitcoin gives more.

If they are into concern about economic improvement, the existence of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have more to add. We can see a lot of people change their lives after investing in Bitcoin and that could prove the value of Bitcoin today and in the future.

It is not all government executive that knows the important of bitcoin, and not everyone in government house wants to scribe cryptocurrency away, according op Russian minister of finance have seen the important of bitcoin from his own ways and know that bitcoin adds values to human resources, some countries don't have cryptocurrency that is why they are interested to abolish Bitcoin in their country, it's good statement by Russian minister of finance, banning Bitcoin is like banning internet, because season most of the things that make people to be busy online is because of digital currency and Bitcoin mostly

How else will state sponsored Russian hackers and blackmailers get their money out? The Finance minister is right, if not a bit of a hypocrite, as Russia heavily monitors and censors the internet (increasing in recent years). No good comes from banning cryptocurrency because there are so many routes to ownership for someone who seriously wants it and it is much safer than the internet in that respect, it's almost an effort in futility in trying to ban it. However, in the meantime, expect to see Russia allowing it as they look for any sources of income and they will be willing to use the dirtiest fuel if it earns them money. It's kind of bad for the whole movement if Russia does not decide to ban it because they have such low standards when it comes to environmental protection.

I doubt that by prohibiting BTC, it will stop the dominance that it effects produced on the market nowadays.

With a currency that can be transacted without the need of any third-party consensus, it is obvious but to see that cryptocurrencies will soon dominate the era of conventional and traditional currencies. People would soon migrate to this kind of transaction where everything is reflected in a public ledger in which no one can even alter or change.

I really do think that BTC is the future of payments whether countries prohibit or ban it or not. Regardless of what countries see it, slowly, its legalization and utilization is felt throughout the world.

I think it is even more difficult than that, once regular people got access to cryptography there were some countries that we are against it and tried to prevent this, but they failed as according to the verdict banning cryptography was the same as trying to ban mathematics, and I think they were right with their comparison, and since bitcoin makes heavy use of cryptography then banning bitcoin is the same as trying to ban mathematics, an industry can be banned but you cannot ban some of the most basic but at the same time profound fields of knowledge of humankind.

Very interesting that this is coming from a country that is amidst war and is about to invade a very pro-bitcoin country in terms of adoption. Yesterday price of bitcoin fell like Russia will destroy bitcoin in Ukraine but magically pumped up at night, maybe after some internal sources might have come to know about this statement that he was about to make. I think what he is saying is absolutely accurate, there is absolutely no way you can ban bitcoin without banning the internet, what most of the countries have been able to do is ban crypto exchanges operating in their country but eventually main bitcoin is on private key and there is no way you can ban it.

Why banning it if they can regulate it or somewhat control it? Monitoring or somewhat controlling both crypto and internet in an specific area is somewhat feasible, so why not do it in that way instead of getting rid of it since it's impossible to ban it in the first place.
Hearing such statement is good to hear than "we will ban bitcoin because it is used for criminals and to launder money", blabla. This statement is mostly comes from an old government guy who only knows fiat and old stuff.

There isn’t any difference between banning Bitcoin and staying away from it, unless what you mean by them staying away, is that you’re actually referring to their government staying away and allowing people to make use of it.

The decision they have made now is best for them, they chosen to legalize Bitcoin and start to regulate it in their country, that would be far much better for them. If they chose to ban it, then that would have been quite a loss for them; just like their financial minister have said, if they ban bitcoin, it’s just like them banning the internet; if you should ban the internet entirely, then where exactly would you belong?

If they can't ban bitcoin, then its better to stay away from bitcoin. Just like China did. But i think its even more impossible as bitcoin has become mainstream already in all parts of the world. Its either they chose to adopt this new technology with bitcoin, or being left out when it comes to countries who are eyeing on adopting blockchain technology. However, there is no final stand on whether Russia will ban bitcoin or not, but banning bitcoin for sure will only make their economy worse from the high inflation that has become inevitable.

It really beats dictators hallow when they're incapacitated in controlling the masses. This is what Bitcoin offers. They aren't ever going to be happy for that. But there's nothing they can do to change the situation. If it were possible they would've done that and crippled Bitcoin long time ago. Russian should go ask China what she gained by banning Bitcoin; nothing! Again, anything that affects the internet will be like taking humanity decades back. Just imagine a world without telephones first before imagining a world without the internet. Bitcoin has come to stay. The earlier they know that, the better for their peace of mind.

As usual, polemical games and polemical statements. This is not only about Russia; this is the problem of the world. Every country's central bank head always gives a negative response because of the stock market because they have control over the stock market and in crypto they have nothing. Although I have a positive attitude toward Russia because of their technological prowess. And they always make some sort of announcement about bitcoin and crypto, no matter how positive or negative the country is. They always keep bitcoin in the news. And I believe, as a tech expert, they will again make bitcoin legal and available in their country because they have that much courage to do that.

prohibiting the use, owning bitcoin is actually not as easy as forbidding citizens to stop playing the internet, if the internet simply disconnects the internet/telephone network that provides internet installation,
different from decentralized bitcoin so it is difficult to limit it where no one knows the people who own bitcoins, except for people / individuals who talk to people around

So, they have experience when it comes to it:

Russia 'successfully tests' its unplugged internet
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50902496

Shutting down the internet is not that hard if you really want to, just cut a few cables and there it goes, on a phone call to the ISP and everything goes dark, good luck trying o get 150 million poeple to use a few satellite connections of having goTenna network span all over Russia. For a single country to stop the internet is impossible, for a country to stop the internet for its citizens, then it's pretty simple we have numerous examples in the past from all over the world.


 

I have seen numerous posts from people all based on Russia and bitcoins on the forum lately. Basically they know they cannot ban bitcoins because people always find a way to use it according to their own needs.

- They can't control it
- They have their own needs that they have to put through first, they have to actually secure a position in case the banks collapse admist sanctions
- Cryptocurrencies are the new step in the world's revolution and the IT sector is literally not going too far without them.

Wait till they announce their own digital currency.

I don't believe that I am the only one who understood what the Russian finance minister meant by "banning Bitcoin is Like banning the Internet". Obviously, to me, it means as much as "its impossible to ban Bitcoin just like it is as impossible to ban Bitcoin". So anyone talking about banning Bitcoin is just proclaiming something that they cannot follow up on and never had the ability to ban it in the first place.

Its all just a bunch of talk.

Thats just my take on it.

But I am glad that someone as important as Russia's finance minister is backing Bitcoin

It's a great point and I think it's the total and hard truth. But aren't Russia and China among those who try their best to ban the internet? Of course not entirely but both countries frequently use censorship and for example in Kazakhstan Russian elements were there jamming wifi signals and all that.

So they know they can't ban the internet but they try anyway. Who says they won't try with Bitcoin?

I think this comparison between Bitcoin and the Internet isn't very good. The Internet is considered to be largely centralized, and blackouts in Kazakhstan recently showed how it's actually very possible to block the Internet (so, with enough political will, I think it's possible to make it stay banned), not to mention the North Korea where the vast majority have zero access to the Internet. I guess comparing Bitcoin to torrents is more precise. But, that being said, Bitcoin is effectively out if Bitcoin is banned. In any case, it's a weird comparison because it probably meant that both can't be effectively banned, but it's not true (not for authoritarian regimes anyway). Speaking of Bitcoin, there are other ways of making it effectively banned: make a huge punishment for using it, and the majority will abandon it.

They wont succeed in banning Bitcoin, but they can make it more difficult for their citizens to access Bitcoin-related services and platforms. I am talking about exchanges, casinos, and even the Bitcointalk forum, a site that is still banned in Russia I think. But there is always TOR, there are SOCKS, and VPN to bypass those restrictions.

Russia will have to decide where their interests lie and what is more profitable. Doing the best they can to ban mining, staking, trading, investing, etc., or taxing such activities and keep filling those tax registers. China opted to mine certain aspects, let's see what route Russia will take. Both nations are certainly not leaders when it comes to freedom of choice.

If that is the case then there will come a time in the future where bitcoins will be used like how we use the internet today but in the finance industry where people use it as money and you can actually buy anything using BTC. looks like we have a solid supporter here, hope that they won't change their decision regarding bitcoins and continue to support it until everyone recognized it as one of the official currencies of the world. right now, only the governments are against or stay neutral with bitcoins, they're citizens that already know it is mostly using it.

There are lot of things going on in Russia at the moment like the central banks and parliament house are not in cooperation with each other so nothing at the moment is clear.

The Russian crypto market contributes about $200 billion and is around 12% share of the market so who's at the loss?


They drafted a Bill for crypto regulations as per finance minister against the will of central banks and then they are issuing various statements like this one :


So the situation is not exactly clear as to what their intentions are or the bill will have what kind of action like ban or regulation? So let's wait for it to happen.

Speaking about internet and bitcoin then government can legally shut it down and then only options left in case of btc is TOR and other services which will allow you to secretly operate but that's not good.It cannot be stopped as the mechanism is built that way which the government fears but sooner or later they will realise this mistake.

But this is what will happen if they go negative around bitcoin and put a Bill to ban it :

1) The market will go once again red which is common and there will be new FUD around the market

2) The panic sellers would contribute their best so we can say that it will go to around $33-$32k

3)The prices will boom once everything is settled down in the long run and btc holders who understands it knows this fact.

4) This will become another china topic and then no talks would be there for it.

The Bitcoin is future even they accept it or not.

This would be one of the best news we can find now while the market is experiencing dumps.

banning bitcoin is like banning internet is a strong word to release from a reputable person in Russian government .

While russia is really trying to bring Bitcoin into more positive traits in their country, news like this will be a good views for bitcoin supporters .

To grow bigger, Bitcoin and crypto market need to have more and better regulations. Having our own banks and financial freedom does not mean the crypto market and its ecosystem should be left as free space.

People must be protected by regulations, laws, etc. There are always pros and cons of regulations but I believe that in the world, we must have law and regulations in any industry. Fortunately, with Bitcoin, governments can not brutefore our own wallets. They can not free our wallets like what they can do very easily with bank accounts.

It must be remembered that in Russia until recently they called not only to ban the circulation of cryptocurrency and its use as a means of payment, but also to establish criminal liability for such violations. The corresponding bill was in their State Duma. If such liability were introduced, it would significantly reduce the circle of people who continued to use cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency would be driven into the shadows, so the state has huge leverage over cryptocurrency.
But, of course, the state is not able to make people completely abandon the use of cryptocurrency. Therefore, the cryptocurrency is developing and its influence on financial markets continues to grow.

Couldn't agree more, it is highly ridiculous to think of banning btc, the federal government should stop thinking about banning and and look for better ways to incorporate it into the economy, after several failed attempt it is pointless to keep trying, we are in the digital era where many things are done digitally, technological advancement is taking over and btc is part of that advancement.

That's probably true! In this advanced computing age, it's very very hard to ban anything that runs over the internet. Because it is quite easy to find a workaround and for the enforcement agencies, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. So what the Finance Minister of Russia is saying, makes complete sense! This way the Russian government will be able to generate tax revenue. But if they ban it, the activities will remain as it is, but they will loose on the tax revenue.

The central banks around the world, are against bitcoin. Because a mediator-free system is an existential threat to the centralized financial bodies. So not only Russia, but other central banks are also vocal about banning the entire crypto ecosystem. It's good that at least a progressive person is leading the finance ministry in Russia.

When it comes to attempts to ban the Internet, supposedly protection from external threats is meant, which in reality is aimed at censorship.

Btw, since 2019, a bill has come into force in Russia, which should eventually make the Russian Internet space similar to the Chinese one. I'm not sure at what stage the implementation of this project is, but after digging around in the bill's document on the Internet, I found that: The restrictions apply primarily to Telecom Operators who must switch to Russian-made equipment, equipment that provides for deep traffic filtering (such that it can distinguish a Telegram traffic package from Facebook, but without seeing the contents of the package).

It's the same with bitcoin... any government is always trying to extract as much money (in the form of taxation) from the population as possible with as much control as possible. And the possible regulation that everyone is so actively discussing is actually aimed at obtaining new levers of pressure on that layer of the Russian population to whom the banking system is alien, (that layer of the population that has cryptocurrency wallets).

That's what China did they wanted to ban bitcoin but the ban could fail if they didn't ban the internet before banning bitcoin, I saw, many news about Russia trying to ban bitcoin a few weeks ago but just a few days after that I saw some articles about Russia trying to legalize bitcoin, so considering the usage of bitcoin by Russian people that's very much expecting to see Russia trying to ban bitcoin, in the worst case they may try to somehow try to adopt for taking tax and tracing he transactions.

No, it's much harder than that.

As a government, you can approve or disapprove the usage of the internet from your citizens. You have greater access than they do. If someone gave me their IP address, I couldn't have known much, maybe approach where they live. The government, on the other hand, can know exactly where they live, which pages they've visited, when did they do it, they can link their devices etc.

In Bitcoin, everybody has the same rights. It's a set of rules everybody can follow. Therefore, I'm gonna change it and say that: Banning Bitcoin is rather like... Banning gravity.

When it is seen from outside it looks like a threat. When one starts using it, people start understanding the need for it and the true power. With internet this has been experienced and the internet changed the world making anything possible from any corner of the world. Now in the financial ecosystem the same is being done by bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies. Maybe the service available out of cryptocurrencies were also available with fiat, but how it happens vary between the two. This is why more countries prefer making it an alternate than banning it.

Yes, the finance minister is on right track. Since they are unable to stop using the Internet means can't prevent their citizens from using Bitcoin or cryptocurrency as well. Central Bank always will stand against Bitcoin, nothing new. It's because they don't like to destroy their business. But they aren't realising the reality and potentialities of Bitcoin or they ignoring that for their own benefits. I don't think Russia will ban crypto ever. There are many things related to that.

"You can't ban the internet" is being repeated but you have to realize that the governments didn't abandon banning the internet because they couldn't. They abandoned it because they ended up having a very good level of control over it.
Take Canada for example, you'd assume they need some sort of court order to pressure the social media companies like Facebook to reveal the shit their people are liking but the recent police raids of Canadian homes proved they don't need it at all. The authoritarian regime already monitors everything fully.

One of the reasons why they still keep fighting bitcoin because they still haven't been able to find any way to have any kind of control over it. They have tried so much too with their spy nodes, chain analysts, etc.

In the first place, there's no reason to ban the internet because it connects us, it gives information that we can share even for free and it makes us smart because we make ourselves informed of the latest news and stories.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, is considered a digital currency, it should not be compared to the internet because bitcoin as a currency can be used for illegal activities and therefore needs to be regulated or banned if cannot be regulated. In the end, it still depends on our government but we see that some governments are pro-bitcoin, so bitcoin will certainly exist even if other countries will ban it.

He’s not wrong, these nations who decide to exclude themselves from the future of finance will regret it. They can’t really ban bitcoin, anybody who knows about Tor, VPN’s, P2P trading can work around it. They can only exclude themselves which is a big mistake.

For them to even consider looking at the possibilities of Banning or not banning means a good thing because if it was not, they couldn't even consider it.  I think in the years to come even though I don't see most countries taking it as a legal tender but there will surely be more acceptance and regulations with Bitcoin because it is no longer undeniable.

Contradictory information has been coming from Russia lately, because it is clear that the Central Bank and the minister have conflicting views. I hope that in the short term the Minister's vision will prevail, as he is the one who understands what this is all about. However, even if the Central Bank's vision were to prevail now, in the long term that vision cannot be sustained.

Not only Russia but also other nations failed to ban the Internet. So what do you expect when you say and are witnessing that they are trying to ban Bitcoin like what they tried to ban the Internet?

Do you know that Bitcoin has much more impressively growth than the Internet?

In 1990s, people tried to ban the Internet and now, 30 years later, we know that they failed eventually. Bitcoin has had 13 years in history so far and it won't die. 13 years old is good enough to say Bitcoin is here to survive and will stay with us. The world need blockchain technology and Bitcoin is the first successful blockchain-based project.

It is generally known that the Russian Central Bank’s stance is to ban crypto-assets, cryptocurrencies, arguing that they creates risks, primarily for citizens, and financial institutions, banks, and create an obscure settlement market.

But, Anton Siluanov (Russia’s Financial Minister) believes that banning cryptocurrencies is like banning the internet. He argued that although the risks the Central Bank is raising are understandable, but he once again reiterated that banning the sector is considerably worse than regulating it.
 
There are still debates on this issue and President Putin have encouraged the two financial bodies to find a solution to the deadlock.

https://cryptopotato.com/banning-bitcoin-is-like-banning-the-internet-says-russias-finance-minister/