'Hairy and bankrupt'
Instagram no longer functions in Russia. Google has stopped selling ads in Russia. It is no longer possible to subscribe to his Russian club via PayPal, which has suspended its services in Russia. Patreon, his other payment option for the Russian club, “kind of works,” but because many Russian banks have been kicked out of SWIFT, he can’t withdraw his money.“It is quite painful,” Proshin tellsIt took a whole morning to set up his wallets for cryptocurrency donations.
So far, Proshin’s only been able to make one purchase: a VPN, which is essential for accessing the broader web from Russia. Foreign-based VPNs don’t accept Russian bank cards, Proshin noted. They do, however, take Bitcoin. Proshin isn’t the only English-speaking Russian creator who’s suddenly put up a wallet address. “With everything going on in the world, you can officially call me hairy and bankrupt,” says Roman Abalinon his YouTube channel called NFKRZ . In the video’s description, there’s an address for his Bitcoin wallet.
For the last 10 years or so, I’ve heard speculation about how useful a non-state currency might be. Historically, gold has sometimes been a stable source of value for people making a quick exit from a country. Crypto proponents suggest that digital currencies can accomplish something similar. Russia and Ukraine are both countries where cryptocurrency adoption is relatively widespread. (Russia