Investor and fund manager Bill Miller has issued a statement that financial sanctions imposed on Russia could drive a price spike for Bitcoin. He stressed that gold was the country's single largest reserve asset but it was under control. This will indirectly attract people to consider BTC.
The military conflict in Ukraine changed the tide in the financial world drastically. NATO and the EU declared economic war against the Putin regime. The United States, the UK, Germany and many more countries cut off their financial means with Russia and excluded many Russian banks from the main payment system SWIFT.
As a result of the sanctions, the ruble plunged more than 25%, while Russians began to look for alternative financial instruments to maintain their savings. Bitcoin trading volume in the region jumped to record levels.
In a recent interview with CNBC, former Chairman of Legg Mason Capital Management, Bill Miller noted that Russia keeps 16% of its reserves in dollars and 32% in euros. He further noted that the only share of their reserves, which cannot be controlled by other countries, is gold (22%). According to Miller, this metric is a "bullish" sign for bitcoin.
"They have almost 50% of their reserves in currencies that are controlled by people who want to do them harm… they have 22% in gold that is the only part of their reserve that other countries can't control," says Bill Miller on Russia. "It's very bullish for #bitcoin." pic.twitter.com/zWihekfeyk
- Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) March 2, 2022
Commenting on altcoin, he said it was very different from major cryptocurrencies, and investors should see it as a "venture asset". Miller was previously better known as a person who was skeptical of BTC but lately he has started to be a supporter of BTC.
