VISA & MASTERCARD blocked Russians from accessing their money

[stompix]

Russia won't accept bitcoin, ever.

Too early to say that. In the early stages of Bitcoin (especially in 2011 and 2012), Russians constituted for a large part of the Bitcoiners (IMO, they constituted close to 25% of the Bitcoiners at that time). The Russian government is not pro-Bitcoin, as of now. But they have not yet banned Bitcoin, as China and Thailand has done.

Thailand hasn't banned anything related to bitcoin , they were just poor translated news and China hasn't banned bitcoin usage just trading.

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[bryant.coleman]

Thailand hasn't banned anything related to bitcoin , they were just poor translated news and China hasn't banned bitcoin usage just trading.

My source is Bitlegal.

Thailand’s stance on Bitcoin is difficult to understand. In late 2013, the Bank of Thailand and the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department of Thailand informed the largest Thai exchange that most Bitcoin-related activities, including commerce, exchange, and remittance to be illegal

Also, see this:

Bitcoin banned in Thailand

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100923551

[5flags]

It is legal in Thailand to buy and sell Bitcoins for native currency. It is not legal to buy and sell for other currencies.

http://www.techinasia.com/bank-thailand-countrys-top-bitcoin-exchange-resume-operations/

[stompix]

Thailand hasn't banned anything related to bitcoin , they were just poor translated news and China hasn't banned bitcoin usage just trading.

My source is Bitlegal.

Thailand’s stance on Bitcoin is difficult to understand. In late 2013, the Bank of Thailand and the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department of Thailand informed the largest Thai exchange that most Bitcoin-related activities, including commerce, exchange, and remittance to be illegal

Also, see this:

Bitcoin banned in Thailand

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100923551

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=550894.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=605641.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=617268.0

Doesn't seem to banned to me.

[5flags]

Doesn't seem to banned to me.

Because it isn't. It is restricted, but not banned.

[stompix]

Doesn't seem to banned to me.

Because it isn't. It is restricted, but not banned.

That was my point. Lots of fake or incorrectly translated "news" that spread a lot of false information.
And some people take from granted single posts of some blogs or forums.

In case of Thailand even the central bank and the government changed their view a few months ago.
Waiting for China to do their 180 move also.

[Kiki112]

One word.

BASTARDS

that's what you get when you do something against the will of almost every western country

[stompix]

EXTREMELY GRAFFIC VIDEO Right Sector kills ex police chief of Donetsk (Kostyantyn Pozhydayev):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP4Drl6KBdc

BTW... Akhmetov called on workers in all his factories to carry out a mini-strike each day - and nothing happened

I think you posted this in the wrong thread .
It's about visa and mastercard in russia not the ukraine crisis.

[fdiini]

Doesn't seem to banned to me.

Because it isn't. It is restricted, but not banned.

That was my point. Lots of fake or incorrectly translated "news" that spread a lot of false information.
And some people take from granted single posts of some blogs or forums.

In case of Thailand even the central bank and the government changed their view a few months ago.
Waiting for China to do their 180 move also.

It is unlikely china will do 180 move seeing they are trying very hard to prosecute municipal corruption.

Once money leave the country, the government won't be able to seize the asset of corrupted official.

[stompix]

Doesn't seem to banned to me.

Because it isn't. It is restricted, but not banned.

That was my point. Lots of fake or incorrectly translated "news" that spread a lot of false information.
And some people take from granted single posts of some blogs or forums.

In case of Thailand even the central bank and the government changed their view a few months ago.
Waiting for China to do their 180 move also.

It is unlikely china will do 180 move seeing they are trying very hard to prosecute municipal corruption.

Once money leave the country, the government won't be able to seize the asset of corrupted official.

Wait until bitcoin gets big enough so that the ones running the government can hide their billions through bitcoins. Then everything will change as at this moment it's not suited for that kind of sums.

[bryant.coleman]

Some respite for Visa / Master in Russia.

Russia could relax rules for Visa and Mastercard -source

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/22/us-russia-sanctions-credit-idUSBREA4L06I20140522

[stompix]

Some respite for Visa / Master in Russia.

Russia could relax rules for Visa and Mastercard -source

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/22/us-russia-sanctions-credit-idUSBREA4L06I20140522

The title is a bit misleading

A quote from the article:

"Visa said it has taken the decision not to pay a cent," the source added.

That doesn't sound at all like relax. Seems like Visa has the upper hand right now.

[bryant.coleman]

That doesn't sound at all like relax. Seems like Visa has the upper hand right now.

I wouldn't say that Visa is having any advantage right now. If Putin really want, he can kick out Visa / Master in a matter of days. On the other hand, Visa / Master will be severely affected by the loss of one of the fastest growing markets, if he does so.

[stompix]

That doesn't sound at all like relax. Seems like Visa has the upper hand right now.

I wouldn't say that Visa is having any advantage right now. If Putin really want, he can kick out Visa / Master in a matter of days. On the other hand, Visa / Master will be severely affected by the loss of one of the fastest growing markets, if he does so.

Severely? Not even close.

According to the Russian central bank, the volume of card transactions in Russia reached 7.3 trillion rubles ($204 billion) in the 4th quarter of 2013. If the two U.S. companies processed 90 percent of that volume, about $2 billion per day, they would have to deposit $4 billion with the central bank between them. Their combined Russian revenue in 2013, at 0.1 percent of transaction volume, looks to have been about $724 million, although that may be a generous estimate: Mastercard says Russia accounts for 2 percent of its revenues, a mere $167 million in 2013.

I also think that the Russians have a paypal like service which is wide spread isn't it?

[bryant.coleman]

Mastercard says Russia accounts for 2 percent of its revenues, a mere $167 million in 2013.

The percentage might be small, but the market in Russia is one of the fastest growing ones in the world. Other card markets such as the US and the EU are extremely saturated right now, with little scope for growth. So, Russia might be 2% of the volume, but it represents 20% of the potential growth for Mastercard.

[Nemo1024]

Right. As expected Visa and MasterCard came to an agreement with Russian lawmakers:
http://www.forbes.ru/news/258103-visa-i-mastercard-dogovorilis-s-pravitelstvom-ob-usloviyakh-raboty-v-rossii
The details are not given.

[Balthazar]

Right. As expected Visa and MasterCard came to an agreement with Russian lawmakers:
http://www.forbes.ru/news/258103-visa-i-mastercard-dogovorilis-s-pravitelstvom-ob-usloviyakh-raboty-v-rossii
The details are not given.

They came to agreement with government, not with lawmakers. Lawmakers currently prepairing the new bill, which will be used to allow adjustment of deposit value requirements by government.

[stompix]

Right. As expected Visa and MasterCard came to an agreement with Russian lawmakers:
http://www.forbes.ru/news/258103-visa-i-mastercard-dogovorilis-s-pravitelstvom-ob-usloviyakh-raboty-v-rossii
The details are not given.

After all that barking about how visa and mastercard can get the of russia if they don't pay an agreement with no details given to the public seems like I was right , Visa has the upper hand.From what i can read with the google translator it seems like they need at least 6 years to create their own payment network.

They would do it faster with bitcoins.

[Balthazar]

http://m.forbes.ru/news.php?id=258201

Just like I said before, VISA & MC are planning to create the local processing centers, this would allow them to work around all these US sanctioning issues.

[bryant.coleman]

Right. As expected Visa and MasterCard came to an agreement with Russian lawmakers:
http://www.forbes.ru/news/258103-visa-i-mastercard-dogovorilis-s-pravitelstvom-ob-usloviyakh-raboty-v-rossii
The details are not given.

This might provide a temporary respite for Visa / Master. But with the Russian public remaining fiercely opposed to them, I don't think that they will stay in Russia for the long term.