Putin is a brilliant statesman and understands all of the things you laid out in your article. Well done. The corruption angle I hadn't thought of yet, but that is a great point.

To me, it supports the recently published goals of the Bank of Russia 2017-22 to professionalize the Russian financial system. By moving towards some form of crypto-Ruble Russia is telling the world that it wants to be a haven for capital fleeing the breakdown of the U.S./EU system and unfolding sovereign debt crisis.

Upvoted/Followed/ Resteemed... again well done.