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March
25
2022

Russia Just Told You The Ruble is Implicitly Backed by Gold and Bitcoin 
Tyler Durden

Intro: We are not given to hyperbole. This is a path we’ve studied for years as students of history. This is not a fomo panic buy (or sell) statement. It is a geopolitical observation. There comes a point where no matter how good a captain is, after which, he cannot steer his ship to avoid an iceberg. The dollar is on a collision course with China and Russia on trade. If the iceberg does not melt, the choices are: crash, or scuttle with the affluent surviving in lifeboats.

The following was reported yesterday. The implications are geopolitically staggering. Governments are paying close attention.

Russia is open to accepting bitcoin for its natural resources exports, the chairman of the country’s Congressional energy committee, Pavel Zavalny, said in a press conference on Thursday. BitcoinMagazine via Zerohedge

As part of the pushback by Russia from western trade sanctions and restrictions in using SWIFT, Russia has had to openly accept alternative payment methods and systems for its assets. A large part of that solution is using Gold and Bitcoin for Trade.

Dollar Death by A Thousand Cuts

The article is viewed rightfully by some as an overplay on the significance of the Bitcoin inclusion beside Gold as an alternative payment. Though this is true, the long term effects are potentially a cascade of currency rebellions. Death of a thousand Bitcoin transactions, if you will.

Even if the smallest country with the weakest currency were to use it, the stage is now set for broader adoption and decentralized payments taking over what was once a system exclusively denominated by dollar transactions. There is a choice now and it is going to further destabilize global trade.

Fast forward to today and people are now asking what to make of the revelation that Russia is beginning to implement something it and China have been working on for years. What does it mean? Today’s  GoldFix Podcast focuses almost exclusively on the implications of these announcements in context of the above, and going forward. Here are the most relevant 2 minute clips broken out:

Clip 1: Russia accepting Gold ( and bitcoin) for Nat Gas. Why it is bullish for those assets. What does that say about the Ruble? What does that say about physical vs futures?…

Clip 2: Russia announces Gold and Bitcoin for Natural Gas. Ruble is now at least implicitly backed by Gold and Bitcoin….

Why Gold and Bitcoin are Valid for Russian Trade…

 The risk of This announcement to Bitcoin and Gold…

The Bitcoin Maxi thesis in real life… 

Full podcasts can be listened to HERE

They’ve Been Working on This Since 2017

In 2017 it was reported to us that Russia had been doing oil for Gold deals with China using Blockchain for the Gold verification. The Gold stayed in China’s Shanghai exchange. From my September 3, 2017 post entitled Golden Yuan: Crude Backed By Gold is Here

Deals are being done, Russia/china oil for gold using Blockchain over the past several months. A few months ago $3b trades that way. And the info  I got was that the gold paid to Russia never left the Chinese vault. 

While this was never verified in the media we did notice this in a 2019 Reuters article and concluded the likelihood of the testing being successful was very high:

MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed the international use of a Russian alternative system for the global financial messaging network SWIFT designed by Moscow to eliminate the risk of Western sanctions.

“As the system has proved to be viable and efficient, it draws interest from both Russian and foreign players, it is proposed to give any legal entities, Russian and foreign, the possibility to use it,” Aksakov said.

Russia has held talks with China, India, Iran and Turkey about joint use of Russia’s financial messaging system…

Watch how this plays out over the next 2 years. Either the west has to hoard it faster ( they are), spoof it lower (they have been), or both. We think both. We are Gold traders after all

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