Russia: Wagner’s “stab” boosts cryptocurrencies

What paradox ! The man who shook the Kremlin does not come from the opposition camp or from outside. He, Evguéni Prigojine, is a very close friend described as« old swiss army knife by Vladimir Putin. He dared to challenge the power in place by a short-lived rebellion supported by nearly 5,000 men. A situation quickly arranged by Putin and which aroused emulated by Russian crypto-enthusiasts.

Tether, the great winner of Wagner’s rebellion

Russia, once hostile to cryptocurrencies, has changed its mind as the Western sanctions were being felt in its economy. First, it announced a platform project accepting several CBDCs. And then the Kremlin gave the green light to banks to develop suitable crypto products.

I’adoption of cryptocurrencies by Russians therefore continued on its merry way. Just yesterday, June 26, Fortune had looked at surprising data on cryptocurrency exchanges taken from the only exchanges accepting such operations.

Actually, ruble-denominated Tether trading volume increased against the background of a brief revolt led by the Wagner group.

Data taken from CCData indicates that trading between rubles and USDT was only at $4 million on Saturday last. The next day, this figure was almost multiplied by 4: more precisely, $15 million.

At the origin of all this upheaval?

The rush of frightened Russians to Tether’s USDT has only one explanation. It is the attempt to destabilize the country perpetrated by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his highly experienced militias. With a convoy of 5,000 mercenaries armed to the teeththe Wagner group had arrived very close to Moscow before stopping its maneuvers.

Because there were indeed negotiations with Putin and Lukashencko (president of Belarus). Bloodshed has been narrowly avoided on occasion. But the image of the Russian army suffered some scratches.

To justify an attempt to disobey Vladimir Putin, his now ex-friend advanced many reasons : abandonment of his troops in the Central African Republic and Mali, disagreements with the warlords in Ukraine, efforts against any attempt to destroy the Wagner group, revelation of security issues in Russia, etc.

Stablecoins, crisis (crypto)currencies?

First, it should be noted that the end of the short-lived crisis in Russia saw the fall in exchanges between the ruble and Tether at $3 million.

Note, however, that similar crises have always been favorable for increases in trading volumes between the ruble and stablecoins USDT-like. At the start of the invasion of Ukraine, for example, the exchanges were valued at up to 37 million dollars.

The devaluation of the Russian ruble due to economic sanctions would drive people to adopt stablecoins.

And it’s not just in Russia that these cryptocurrencies are on the rise. Other countries stunned by economic crises such as Argentina and Venezuela are currently raving about it.