Bitcoin, after soaring in 2024, has held steady around $100,000 over the past week as traders prepare for the next price shock.
According to Forbes magazine, investors predict that Bitcoin prices will continue to explode in 2025 when billionaire Elon Musk, an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, signals the return of cryptocurrency to the front line.
After the US Treasury Department called Bitcoin "digital gold", it was reported that Russian lawmakers were pushing the country to create a strategic reserve of Bitcoin.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma (the Russian House of Representatives) Anton Tkachev has proposed creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve for Russia.
Tkachev is said to have sent the proposal to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to "assess the feasibility of creating a strategic reserve fund in Bitcoin in Russia" and compare it with "state reserves in traditional currencies".
"If this initiative is approved, I suggest that the Minister submit it to the Russian Federation government for further implementation" - the proposal reads.
With countries under sanctions having limited access to traditional international payment systems, cryptocurrencies are becoming the only tool for international trade. The Russian Central Bank is preparing to pilot cross-border payments using cryptocurrency.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Bitcoin as an alternative to foreign currency reserves after Western governments froze about $300 billion in Russian assets to punish the country for its military campaign in Ukraine.
"A legitimate question: Why accumulate reserves if they can be lost so easily?" - Reuters quoted President Putin as saying at the "Russia Calling" investment conference in Moscow on December 4.
Mr. Putin also called Bitcoin a potential solution. "Who can ban Bitcoin? No one. Because they are new technologies. And no matter what happens to the US dollar, tools like Bitcoin will develop one way or another," the Russian leader pointed out.
Meanwhile, Russia has taken steps to allow the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency for transactions ahead of financial sanctions. President Putin has also signed a new law legalizing the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in the country.
In July, at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Republican candidate Donald Trump promised to create a " Strategic national Bitcoin reserve" and predicted that Bitcoin could surpass gold's $16 trillion market capitalization.
Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis has submitted a bill to Congress, titled the bill to promote innovation, technology and competitiveness through nationwide optimal investment (BITCOIN), proposing the US to buy 1 million bitons in 5 years to reduce the skyrocketing national debt to $35 trillion.
In Vietnam, representatives of the State Bank have repeatedly sent out the message: Bitcoin and other similar virtual currencies are not legal currencies and payment methods in Vietnam. The issuance, supply, and use of Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies as a means of payment is an act that is not in accordance with current law.
