Alexei Navalny Receives More Bitcoin Support Than Russian Rubles

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Except for a store of value (which even Jim Cramer recently admitted), cryptocurrencies are becoming an escape mechanism for opposition leaders in autocracies as well.

We’ve already reported on Belarus and Nigeria in recent months turning to crypto collections to finance opposition rallies, but it now seems that a much larger opposition figure is doing the same.

Over the whole of 2020, Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s main opponent, reportedly received more donations in Bitcoin than in Russian rubles. The Russian presidential candidate, who has been poisoned and jailed by authorities, received no less than $300,000 worth of BTC, according to the current Bitcoin price.

Bitcoiners Fund Russian Opposition Politics

Upon his return to Russia, he was arrested and then sentenced to 3 years in prison on a libel charge. His opposition movement has been accepting bitcoin donations since 2016 to fight restrictions put in place by local authorities.

Bitcoin becomes the currency of opposition. According to some estimates Navalny’s team crypto-wallet received about 658 Bitcoin, about $30 million, in the past 5 years. Today’s feature by @PjotrSauer https://t.co/JcXvY5DNNA

— Uliana Pavlova (@pavlovauliana) February 11, 2021

Leonid Volkov, in charge of Navalny’s campaign HQs across Russia, said:

We had a very big inflow of donations. Most of the donations came from normal people. There’s nothing complicated about it.

Just like in Nigeria in recent weeks, also in Russia authorities are trying to clamp down on Bitcoin, but fail.

#Bitcoin is trading at a 36% premium in Nigeria, after ban.

— Documenting Bitcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) February 17, 2021

They are always trying to close down our bank accounts – but we always find some kind of workaround.

Said Volkov.

We use bitcoin because it’s a good legal means of payment. The fact that we have bitcoin payments as an alternative helps to defend us from the Russian authorities. They see if they close down other more traditional channels, we will still have bitcoin. It’s like insurance.