Cryptocurrency may destroy Russia. If it had been invented in 1994 the country’s entire capital would have been siphoned to offshore areas. The claim was made by Nikolai Arefyev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship, who spoke at a news conference at the National News Service.
“Commodity production accounts for only 5% of global economy today while venture capital accounts for the rest. Unfortunately, it’s also the case in Russia where commodity production accounts for 8% while the rest is oil and gas speculation. It is a constant game of prices, stock market and interest rates where money produces money. However, I believe that if we don’t sow and plow we will have nothing to eat regardless of how much money we have in the bank account. We will still have nowhere to buy bread if we don’t grow it – although there will be plenty of money,” the parliament member said.
Arefyev stressed that commodity production deserves more attention than speculation.
“Speculation never brings anything good,” he added. “If digital money had been invented in 1994 the country’s entire capital would have been siphoned to offshore areas.”
He added that initially, digital money was developed in 2000 to hide huge offshore money from the state and evade taxes.
Yury Pripachkin, President of the Russian Association of Cryptoindustry and Blockchain (RACIB), claims that the deputy’s argument is a myth.
“The issue of anonymity can be easily solved. Wallet registration requires tax identification number. Everything is transparent. Speaking about siphoning trillions from the country, I am just as outraged at this situation but it has nothing to do with cryptocurrency. It is only possible to siphon cash, under contracts. This scheme was and still is successful. Cryptocurrency gives us an opportunity to take everything into consideration and, on the contrary, make sure it can be avoided,” Yury Pripachkin added.