Sergei Guriev, professor of economics in Paris’ Sciences Po and Critique of Vladimir Putin, explained to Cintelegraph how Bitcoin can be used as a tool to fight against authoritarian regimes despite “fundamental social value”.
Unlike fiduciary currencies, the purchasing power of Bitcoin is not supported by any institution. This is why, according to Guriev, “Bitcoin is a simply speculative instrument without any fundamental value”.
He also pointed out that, unlike the actions of the company, Bitcoin does not produce or does not promise to produce cash flows.
“Bitcoin does not produce anything additional,” he said. Its value is “only subject to all parties being happy to use it as a means of exchange”, underlines Guriev.
However, Guriev recognizes the important role of Bitcoin in authoritarian regimes. In countries like Russia, it is used as a precious tool to support the opposition anonymously.
“The Russian government ensures that non-anonymous opposition donors are in a way harassed or prosecuted,” he told Cintelegraph.
Guriev himself led Russia to escape the harassment of the Russian authorities after having openly supported local opposition to the Vladimir Putin regime.
According to Guriev, the pseudonymat of Bitcoin and its resistance to censorship are the main reason why Russia is about to transmit a law that will retract digital currencies in the country.
“The tools for collecting anonymous funds and digital currencies are the enemy of the Russian state,” he said.
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