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Bitcoin - a Neutral Money System

source-logo  cryptoknowmics.com 01 March 2022 00:26, UTC

In Ukraine, the largest European military battle since World War II is underway, and Bitcoin has the potential to influence the result.

People all across the world have already donated millions to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to save Ukraine from Russia's barbaric assault. Meanwhile, as the panic of conflict depletes the country's ATMs, some in Ukraine are resorting to Bitcoin. Danish journalists are said to have used Satoshi's currency to buy a car and flee the country in one example. Gold might have been used to barter in a conflict zone twenty years ago; today, it's Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, powerful crypto personalities, many of whom are as wealthy as Russia's despised billionaires, are contributing their weight to the dispute. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, condemned the incursion on Twitter in his native Russian. FTX gave $25 to every Ukrainian on the platform, according to Sam Bankman-Fried.

These are heart-warming tales of how cryptocurrency is assisting the Ukrainians, who are unquestionably the good people in this battle. The open nature of crypto, on the other hand, is a two-way street: analysts believe that Russia and its leaders will turn to crypto to avoid the economic sanctions that are piling up against them. Bitcoin may benefit the good guys, but it also has the potential to benefit the evil guys. The technology is agnostic, as many in the crypto community like to emphasise.

The idea is that cryptocurrency has become an important tool for funding violent and nonviolent conflict. The moral case for Ukraine is plain, but that will not always be the case. There's a chance that the crypto community will use its wealth to engage in political or military conflicts it doesn't understand, either out of conviction or for the sake of shitposting.

This risk is heightened by the fact that cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly politicised, for better or worse.

cryptoknowmics.com