5th July 2026
tl;dr
The Ruble CBDC is ready to go live. It would be most appropriate if that marked the end of Putin’s dystopian regime.
Market Snap
Market Wrap
Friday saw a reversal of outflows from the spot BTC ETFs to the tune of $225m inflows. It is far too early to call this as marking a change of trend, but it is possibly one more sign that the final capitulation of this crypto winter is behind us.
Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Russia and the Ruble CBDC
The Bank of Russia has announced it has completed all preparations ahead of a nationwide rollout of the Ruble CBDC. This comes three years after the murderous dictator Vladimir Putin signed the digital Ruble framework into law. Hilariously, when I try to access the press release, I get this response, which sums up all you need to know about modern-day Russia:
All “systematically important” banks and large retailers are being forced to integrate this tool of coercion and control into their payment rails.
There can be no place for CBDCs in a liberal, democratic society. Convicted Criminal Christine Lagarde, head of the ECB, and the hapless and hopeless Andrew Bailey, Governor of the BoE, are utterly misguided in their personal desires to see a Euro CBDC and a sterling CBDC come to fruition on their watch. History will not look kindly upon them if they do so.
Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Putin is a goner
This is Putin’s so-called “superyacht” hightailing it to frozen Arctic waters whilst being protected by two of the very few remaining, working, Russian destroyers:
After Putin’s decades of autocratic power, the oligarchs are looking at this pic, and asking themselves, “Is that all he can show for the corruption, the oppression, the cruelty, the destruction of so many peoples’ lives, and the murders, oftentimes involving our own kin, to say nothing of the slaughter of innocent Ukrainians?”
“Seriously, our yachts are so much bigger and better than his. What a loser.”
The oligarchs are not impressed, for this play toy valued at a measly $100mm is a mere speedboat in their eyes. Without support from the oligarchs, Putin aint got long.
…
In entirely unrelated news, I note that Polymarket’s political betting operation goes from strength to strength. Total trading volume, of which the political angle is one of the three key pillars, has exploded from $73mm in 2023 to over $20bn in 2025. That trend is growing, not reversing.
Chosen entirely at random, for those not familiar with Polymarket, here is but one of those political markets:
It doesn’t take much for that price to double. Or halve. Whatever.