‘Earthquake Bigger Than SWIFT’ – What Russia’s Blocking of PayPal, Visa and Mastercard Means on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Amid Extreme Price Swings

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were pushed into the spotlight last week as global financial sanctions against Russia came into effect.

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Bitcoin price bounced higher amid expectations that sanctioned Russians might switch to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies but pulled back after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Now, the world’s largest payment card networks Visa and Mastercard, as well as online payments giant PayPal, have halted services in Russia – with moves that one crypto expert described as “an earthquake bigger than [the] SWIFT”.

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More Legendary FORBESA Investor Just Issued a Stark Warning About Russia — Along with a ‘Bollish’ Bitcoin Price Prediction

Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have all said they are suspending operations in Russia, and possibly… [+] More people are pushing towards bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

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“We are forced to act in the wake of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events we have witnessed,” Visa CEO Alfred Kelly said in a statement with the company, adding that it will cut transactions “over the coming days.”

“We do not take this decision lightly,” Mastercard said in a statement. Mastercard has been operating in Russia for more than 25 years.

Credit and debit cards issued by Russian banks will no longer work outside the country while Russian companies and cash machines will not be able to accept cards issued outside the country.

There have been local media reports that Russia’s Sberbank will begin issuing cards with China’s UnionPay. Meanwhile, the Russian alternative payment network Visa and Mastercard, founded in 2015, is believed to have only 30% of the market share in the country, according to data from the Russian Central Bank.

The Visa and Mastercard ban comes after PayPal shut down its services in Russia this weekend, just one week after Russia launched the world’s main international payments network SWIFT.

“Paypal supports the Ukrainian people and stands with the international community in condemning Russia’s violent military aggression in Ukraine,” said Dan Shulman, CEO of PayPal.

“[The Visa and Mastercard shutdown] “An earthquake bigger than Swift,” technology lawyer Preston Byrne said on Twitter, adding that “trillions of dollars will be made building a mirror system that does not respond to American pressure.”

Over the past week, trading between the Russian ruble and cryptocurrencies has surged, according to data from Chainalysis, a crypto research firm.

Tech investor Balaji Srinivasan predicted via Twitter: “Every cultural field that is not the US or China will build national piles of social media, shopping and the like as part of their digital defense strategy.” “But they will not have the scale to be globally competitive on their own. They will need to peg Bitcoin/Web3 for that.”

The relatively anonymous nature of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, combined with their decentralized structure, means that countries and crypto companies are not able to prevent a user from entering the system in the same way as the traditional financial industry.

Some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges have come under pressure to block access to their services from Russia, however, companies such as US-based Coinbase and Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, have so far refused.

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More forplace Russian oligarchs and certified billionaires only have one option – Bitcoin

Bitcoin price has risen over the past month as investors gauge the impact of… [+] Financial sanctions against Russia, including the suspension of Visa, Mastercard and PayPal services in the country.

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Binance founder and CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao, often known as CZ, dismissed concerns that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies could be used by Russia to evade sanctions, claiming that “digital currencies are too small for Russia.”

“At the moment, the media and politicians are spending a lot of effort and focus on cryptocurrencies and sanctions,” Czechoslovakia said in a statement.

“If we look at cryptocurrency adoption today, it is likely that about 3% of the world’s population has some type of cryptocurrency exposure (i.e. owning some cryptocurrency). Of those, most only own a small percentage of their net worth in crypto. Less 10% on average. Therefore, there is probably less than 0.3% of the global net worth of cryptocurrencies today. This percentage applies equally to Russia.”

“We do not believe there is a significant risk of Russian oligarchs using cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote on Twitter this week. “Because it is an open ledger, trying to sneak a lot of money through crypto would be much more traceable than using US dollars, cash, art, gold or other assets.”

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Biden administration is considering imposing sanctions on the bitcoin and cryptocurrency market in Russia.

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