The awakening in Europe surprised many when Putin made good on his threats, with the start of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. International reactions were not long in coming and the crypto-community joined in. In particular, Russian-Canadian Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Vitalik Buterin condemns Russia’s “crime” in Ukraine
The start of the Russian intervention in Ukraine is making international headlines on February 24. The crypto community has also reacted and the most prominent voice to speak out is that of Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH).
In a tweet written in Russian, which is very rare for him, Buterin condemned Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it was a “crime against the Russian and Ukrainian people”. In another tweet, he also reminded us that, while the Ethereum blockchain was neutral, he is not as a person.
Очень расстроен решением Путина отказаться от возможности мирного решения спора с Украиной и вместо этого начать войну. Это преступление против украинского и русского народа.
Хочу желать всем безопасности, хотя знаю, что не какой безопасности не будет.
Слава Украине.
– vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 24, 2022
Vitalik Buterin was born in Russia a few years after the break-up of the USSR. He emigrated to Canada with his family in 2000 and has dual Russian-Canadian citizenship. His family left Russia when Putin came to power, as Buterin’s father was an opponent of the Russian leader.
Other members of the crypto community reacted on Twitter:
It’s sad to see so many people making meme’s and joking about WWIII .. have some decency, you have no idea what people in Ukraine will be going through.. pray for all.. war never solves anything worldwar3 RussiaUkraineConflict Russia notowar
– Crypto girl (@Crypto_galleta) February 24, 2022
Throughout history, it’s sobering to see how flashpoints have started chain reactions that have led to global war.
Praying that Ukraine won’t be joining this list…
1. Bosnia
2. Poland
3. ? PrayForPeace Putin UkraineRussiaConflict UkraineRussia crypto NFT– NuWorld Crypto (Shawn C) (@nuworldcrypto) February 24, 2022
Anthony Pompliano, co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital Assets, an investment fund specialising in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, has bounced around on another hot topic: the rising price of a barrel of oil.
Russia is the third largest oil producer in the world.
Oil just hit $100 a barrel.
The impact of this situation is going to be felt globally.
– Pomp (@APompliano) February 24, 2022
Vitalik Buterin met with Putin to try to establish Ethereum (ETH) in Russia
Although hostile to the Russian president, the co-founder of Ethereum had nevertheless met Putin in 2017 to encourage Russia to use the Ethereum network. The latter had obviously not been convinced, showing a certain contempt towards Bitcoin (BTC) and more generally cryptocurrencies.
Putin recently contradicted a suggestion by the Central Bank of Russia that Russia’s energy resources could be used for BTC mining. In contrast to his president, some Russian institutions have shown interest in crypto-currencies, in particular to move away from the US dollar.
In recent days, with international sanctions looming, digital assets and BTC mining have come back into the spotlight in Russia. The Ministry of Economic Development has proposed the authorisation of mining. Moreover, contrary to the opinion of the Central Bank, which is very ambivalent about crypto-currencies, the Ministry of Economy wants to propose a clear legal framework for the use of crypto-assets in the country.
