Russia wants to ban cryptocurrency trading and mining

[ZedRM]

Russia's motives are simple and clear. In a country where absolute control is required, anything outside of regular currency control is not tolerable and the moment Putin cannot benefit from it, it shall come to an end.

This is not about control so much as it's about protecting the valuation of official and lawful currencies. Context is important.

 

[ZedRM]

Actual meaning: Russia is so afraid of crypto being more widely acceptable as a currency than the Ruble, they are banning it

And your point would be, what?

OOF, what happened to the free market comrade?

Free market is one thing. Unregulated currencies that complete with and could potentially destabilize or devalue official currencies is something else and unacceptable.

Any financially sane country would ban it, authoritarian or not.

This.

 

[takaozo]

The Crypo "panic sale" has begun, there is no stopping the "bear run" now.
I hope they crush and burn, miners included.

 

[Watzupken]

Russia's motives are simple and clear. In a country where absolute control is required, anything outside of regular currency control is not tolerable and the moment Putin cannot benefit from it, it shall come to an end.

This is indeed the case. For example, China banned crypto, but in fact, they are developing their own. One that they can monitor closely. I believe cryptocurrency will not die out, but will eventually be enforced upon everyone. Just that the currency will not be "free", but subjected to very strict monitoring and control.

 

[Watzupken]

It's funny there are still people who think the shortage is due to mining. It is a global silicon shortage that affects every electronics, gpu is just one of it.

Crypto mining is certainly one of the driving forces behind the shortage. There is a shortage, but by normal demand, that supply should not have fallen behind that badly in my opinion. And we have heard from the CEO/ CTOs that the demand have outstripped supply. They did acknowledge supply constraints earlier, but that's not the message I read in recent times. Normal demand means 1 gamer probably will buy 1 or 2 GPUs, while a crypto miner can easily purchase a lot more. Which will of course increase demand very drastically. I feel even with silicon shortages, most people wanting to buy a GPU for gaming purposes, would have gotten a GPU by now. Yet, many are still stuck with their old GPUs and with very inflated GPUs being sold. You can blame it on scalpers, but scalpers cannot sell it at an exorbitant price, unless they know that there still people willing to pay such a steep premium.

 

[NightAntilli]

If anyone of you understood the Byzantine Generals problem, none of you would be in support of banning crypto or mining.

Any financially sane country would ban it, authoritarian or not.

This is actually hilarious, considering fractional reserve banking is the main method across the whole world and is anything but sane.

Honestly, most people here don't like crypto mostly because of GPU shortages and second reason is it is using tons of energy, so, selfish reasons.

Since crypto is supposedly difficult to track and control by the government it can be great in some cases. Maybe it's stupid to be against something that can be very important in future just because we want to play games at high resolutions, but I'm not smart to predict the future.

Every government will try to ban something they can't control, Russia definetely won't be the outlier here.

QFT.

It's funny there are still people who think the shortage is due to mining. It is a global silicon shortage that affects every electronics, gpu is just one of it.

I know right. I always bring up that the consoles are also having huge shortages but are not used for mining. I am constantly ignored. People don't like the truth. They prefer to stick to their biased narratives to justify their feelings of being virtuous.

This is not about control so much as it's about protecting the valuation of official and lawful currencies. Context is important.

Exactly. And one thing missing from this context is that protecting official and lawful currencies protects the rich and powerful from the average person.

This is indeed the case. For example, China banned crypto, but in fact, they are developing their own. One that they can monitor closely. I believe cryptocurrency will not die out, but will eventually be enforced upon everyone. Just that the currency will not be "free", but subjected to very strict monitoring and control.

Sort of true. CBDCs are not cryptocurrencies.

Crypto mining is certainly one of the driving forces behind the shortage. There is a shortage, but by normal demand, that supply should not have fallen behind that badly in my opinion. And we have heard from the CEO/ CTOs that the demand have outstripped supply. They did acknowledge supply constraints earlier, but that's not the message I read in recent times. Normal demand means 1 gamer probably will buy 1 or 2 GPUs, while a crypto miner can easily purchase a lot more. Which will of course increase demand very drastically. I feel even with silicon shortages, most people wanting to buy a GPU for gaming purposes, would have gotten a GPU by now. Yet, many are still stuck with their old GPUs and with very inflated GPUs being sold. You can blame it on scalpers, but scalpers cannot sell it at an exorbitant price, unless they know that there still people willing to pay such a steep premium.

What about the console shortage.

 

[ZedRM]

Exactly. And one thing missing from this context is that protecting official and lawful currencies protects the rich and powerful from the average person.

A shallow and narrow notion, but not completely inaccurate. This will happen in any capital focused economy regardless of political ideals.

 

[GamerNerves]

I researched a bit and it seems chip shortage was building before the pandemic, but got really bad when it started. Numbers of shipped GPUs between extremely good year of 2017 and 2021 are drastic. Here are some sources, though I cannot say if they are completely correct:

"Nvidia and AMD shipped 12.7 million cards in 2021, which is an increase of over 1 million compared to 2020."
This would mean 24,4 million units in 2020 and 2021 combined.

GPU Shipments Increased By 25% in 2021, Despite Shortage | Digital Trends

Despite the persisting chip shortage and extremely high GPU prices, graphics card shipments increased by 25% compared to 2020.

www.digitaltrends.com

Behind the link there is a table stating dGPU shipments were overall 92,8 million units in 2017.

Global discrete GPUs shipments 2015-2018 | Statista

This statistic shows the quarterly shipments of discrete graphics processing units (GPUs) worldwide from 2015 to 2018.

www.statista.com

From these numbers I would conclude the demand is way over supply, which the pandemic has only increased due to people spending time at home. Consoles were hard to get for more reasons than only the GPU chip, they include various chips. GPU chips inside consoles are not sold to miners, naturally.
I would state, by now, when already over a quarter of the 2017 numbers are shipped counting from the beginning of 2020, many gamers would have their new GPU, but in reality not many gamers have upgraded their GPU in recent times. Even though the shipment numbers are historically low, the situation points to miners being a big problem.

 

[OortCloud]

With Russia making this statement and the EU market regulator also making similar noises a few days ago, I'm surprised more people haven't started bailing out.

 

[kiwigraeme]

With Russia making this statement and the EU market regulator also making similar noises a few days ago, I'm surprised more people haven't started bailing out.

As I said earlier the big holders are a cartel - but ultimately there is no loyalty . They've had it nice your years pumping and dumping cycles - where they can not lose . They are greedy - they know ultimately it's built on a successful Ponzi scheme - they are still holding Billions as they control over 50% - they probably watch each other like hawks - but one day - one will try to sell quick - then it's over - except to watch it track around $1000 for the ever hopefuls and those that lost thousands .
Cynically we have to continue these arguments in public - instilling fear - as they have a huge marketing campaign - most of it free , by willing Marks /Shills.
The reasonable "investor " has to get spooked - the shills don't matter - the stories will hit mainstream - The demise of BC - Is this the End ? - The rise and fall of the Con.
Given an energy backlash is inevitable as images of humans dying , polar bear cubs emaciated bodies overlaid with images of BC farms . Paypal , Visa, Tesla , Amazon will make grandiose statements . It's 100% certain - unless energy requirements are curtailed .
Maybe they will halt mining - no new BCs - reduce cost of transactions .

 

[wiyosaya]

Let them ban it, I don't care. IMO, it is far too volatile for anyone but those with deep pockets to invest their money into. It will never result in the economic boon for the poor that some people think it will. In the meantime, people like Musky will invest in it, them blabber something to drive the price up or down to his advantage. That, for me, makes it a crap investment.