The only cryptocurrencies people use for payments - especially internationally - are stablecoins, 99.99% of which are backed by dollars.
Banning crypto payments effectively stops Russian companies from transacting in dollars. Putin wants a strong ruble, and this helps keep the demand for rubles high - especially if the dollar starts losing value relative to the ruble (which would make the dollar "cheap" by comparison).
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On a side note: Crypto isn't the Boogeyman so many of you seem to think it is. The government's power is derived from its ability to control the flow of currency, and cryptocurrency is the first and only thing that poses a viable threat to their monopoly. Failure to adopt "good" crypto (i.e. decentralized, free from governmental manipulation, censorship resistant) makes it more likely that they'll successfully be able to impose "bad" crypto (i.e. CBDCs) on us in the near future.
He only banned payments.
The only cryptocurrencies people use for payments - especially internationally - are stablecoins, 99.99% of which are backed by dollars.
Banning crypto payments effectively stops Russian companies from transacting in dollars. Putin wants a strong ruble, and this helps keep the demand for rubles high - especially if the dollar starts losing value relative to the ruble (which would make the dollar "cheap" by comparison).
-- On a side note: Crypto isn't the Boogeyman so many of you seem to think it is. The government's power is derived from its ability to control the flow of currency, and cryptocurrency is the first and only thing that poses a viable threat to their monopoly. Failure to adopt "good" crypto (i.e. decentralized, free from governmental manipulation, censorship resistant) makes it more likely that they'll successfully be able to impose "bad" crypto (i.e. CBDCs) on us in the near future.