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Bitcoin price surges after Russia says it may try to evade sanctions

BITCOIN prices surged after Russia said it could try to evade sanctions by selling oil and gas in cryptocurrency.

Digital money has skyrocketed by around five percent since Putin’s energy chief Pavel Zavalny said it could be used by friendly countries.

He added that they could use different currencies like the Turkish lira or the Chinese yuan depending on the buyer’s preference.

The move is an attempt by the Kremlin to boost Russia’s currency, which has depreciated 20 percent this year, to avoid doing so Western economic sanctions.

Mr Zavalny said on Thursday: “We proposed this China to switch to settlements in local currencies for rubles and yuan for a long time.

“In the case of Turkey, it will be lira and ruble. You can also trade Bitcoins.”

The price of bitcoin has surged from around £32,576 on Thursday to around £34,156 as of Sunday morning.

Analyst David Broadstock from the Energy Studies Institute in Singapore said: “Russia is very quickly feeling the impact of unprecedented sanctions.

“There is a need to support the economy and Bitcoin is seen as a high growth asset in many ways.”