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Mirror: https://archive.ph/d5RmA https://archive.ph/d5RmA (was down) Key passage: “ With this action, cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supporte

Mirror: https://archive.ph/d5RmA https://archive.ph/d5RmA (was down) Key passage: “ With this action, cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by the Mastercard network. And, any Mastercard issued outside of the country will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs.” I don’t believe it’s clear that cards issued in Russia are not still being accepted within Russia. Which is what I believe Visa is still doing: “ all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country and any Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation.” https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.18871.html https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.rele... If MasterCard is matching Visa it’s effectively cross border transactions that have stopped - not withdraw access to Russian issued cards within Russia. If they have withdrawn access to Russian cards within Russia it’s going to put enormous pressure on Russian citizens. Visa and Mastercard apparently have 73% of the credit card market in Russia. This could be the type of pressure need for citizens to push back at the Russian administration (not that they aren’t already).

3np 5y ago
So individuals who recently left Russia out of fear for the regime and may be in very vulnerable positions have potentially unexpectedly lost access to their funds until they can sort that out... Meanwhile, for The Real Russians, business as usual. This looks like theatre hurting the wrong people.
- alkonaut 5y ago
  Anyone who ran across the border and hoped to get their savings from inside Russia once out were naive (or more likely just in a hurry). This is one of few good use cases for cryptocurrency.
  - throw-ru-938 5y ago
    Getting hard currency in Russia right now is a long and difficult process, there's a massive shortage.
    - 3np 5y ago
      How difficult is it to get access to BTC? Does it trade at a premium?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - colesantiago 5y ago
    This is still not a usecase for 'cryptocurrencies' at all. In fact the big crypto exchanges have now blocked Russian users.
    - lekevicius 5y ago
      [citation needed]? I only know that Binance and Kraken specifically spoken against blocking the country.
      - colesantiago 5y ago
        Great, they can ban Russians when forced to anyway? So much for no censorship on crypto tokens even a South Korean crypto exchange has done it. [0] We both know the writing is on the wall and crypto will end up being useless for Russian users. [0] https://cryptopotato.com/south-korean-crypto-exchanges-block-russian-based-ip-addresses-report/ https://cryptopotato.com/south-korean-crypto-exchanges-block...
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
        akimball 5y ago
        While you may know this, I know otherwise. Time will tell which of us has the more predictive knowledge.
      - 3np 5y ago
        To be more specific: They did not speak out about blocking "the country" but about closing accounts and restricting access for all Russian citizens/residents. They are, however, complying with targeted sanctions of the individuals on the sanction list. If the scope of the OFAC sanctions forces the exchanges to start blocking Russian passport holders and/or residents, that will change, of course. Kraken CEO tweet thread: http://nitter7bryz3jv7e3uekphigvmoyoem4al3fynerxkj22dmoxoq553qd.onion/jespow/status/1498112741684363265 http://nitter7bryz3jv7e3uekphigvmoyoem4al3fynerxkj22dmoxoq55...
    - 5y ago
  - quotha 5y ago
    Yes, imagine, you only need to remember 12 words!
  - dehrmann 5y ago
    There's a chance that this triggers EU, NATO, and partner countries to ban or heavily regulate cryptocurrencies.
    - 3np 5y ago
      Already on it, according to the director for cybersecurity and secure digital innovation for the US White House National Security Council. https://events.trmlabs.com/trm-labs/TRM-Talks-Russia-Sanctions https://events.trmlabs.com/trm-labs/TRM-Talks-Russia-Sanctio... (They ask you to register to view but viewing is possible without verifying the e-mail)
  - SergeAx 5y ago
    What's wrong with getting savings across border using ATM cash withdrawal while abroad? Limits are quite high for debit cards (and could be customized via client support), ATM commissions in first world countries are more than reasonable (up to 0%).
- raxi 5y ago
  Lyon Feuchtwanger, a Jew and anti-fascist who fled Hitler's Germany, lost all his savings in banks in the US, Canada, Britain and France. Because of the sanctions imposed on him as a German citizen. The only bank he still had money in his account in 1945 was ...German.
  - onetokeoverthe 5y ago
  - claudenm 5y ago
    Any citation on that?
    - raxi 5y ago
      In his books (likely in autobiographical "Unholdes Frankreich")
- vkou 5y ago
  It's not theatre, between this, and the trade disruptions, it's currently crippling the Russian domestic economy. People at different levels of society are, of course, affected differently, but everybody's affected at this point. Even for an aristocrat, drinking moonshine in Krasnodar just doesn't have the same caché as Don Perignon in Paris.
assusdan 5y ago
In Russia, all country-local Visa and MasterCard payments are processed by country-owned NSPK system https://nspk.com https://nspk.com So all local payments will work, but no abroad payments (and no foreign cards to pay locally in Russia). Probably, I will lost most of my cloud data and compute resources incl. VPNs. Fortunately, some providers do accept SWIFT payments.
- 323 5y ago
  Do the providers accept ruble? My understanding is that foreign currency transfers to outside was banned (capital control).
  - assusdan 5y ago
    It is partially banned/restricted for companies only. Personal transactions do work well. However, there 12% tax on buying currencies on currency exchange for both companies and personal accounts
- londons_explore 5y ago
  You can always ask to borrow someone's card who doesn't live in Russia...
  - thematrixturtle 5y ago
    And how do you pay them back?
    - megous 5y ago
      Work...
  - assusdan 5y ago
    Yeah, that's what I will probably do. However, this doesnt sound secure, and some providers do check if card holders equals to account owner
cm2187 5y ago
But imagine the disruption for ordinary citizens. Like you won't be able to renew your domain names, or pay for office 365/gsuite/aws/azure. Companies who didn't migrate to the cloud won't look so stupid. Stephen Kotkin warned in a recent interview that the russians have their own way they can wreck havoc in our economies, like cutting undersea cables. And I also wonder if at one point the loss of revenues from cutting gas to europe will be worth given the economic impact it will inflict on the west (power cuts/lack of heating all over europe, price of gas sky-rocketting, etc).
- laurent92 5y ago
  Note that cutting the gas aligns with what the West citizen broadly want: Being forced faster than later to get rid of fossil energy. EU leaders certainly didn’t aim to secure the gas supply, they put all their might into sanctioning Russia “even if it costs the gas supply”. At this point I’m wondering whether Russia knows it and wants to impose any sanction except cutting the gas.
  - native_samples 5y ago
    Western citizens to not broadly want that at all. They may say they do not that's conditional on a lot of unstated assumptions, like it not causing electricity to become unaffordable or entirely unavailable. Both of which would be likely consequences of an energy was with Russia. The moment that happens, people sitting in the cold will suddenly remember that Ukraine is a foreign country and they aren't actually at war.
- Torifyme12 5y ago
  If Russia cuts the undersea cables that's going to be even worse for them.
drdaeman 5y ago
> will no longer be supported On an completely unrelated note I'm sad to observe how corporate speech alters the language. I'm sure it's called "will be rejected" not "will no longer be supported". I have an ancient smartphone that's "no longer supported" and it still works. I'm sure the message meant that Russian cards won't, but I guess as people got routinely scared to use anything but the vaguest terms it became a habit.

3np 5y ago

So individuals who recently left Russia out of fear for the regime and may be in very vulnerable positions have potentially unexpectedly lost access to their funds until they can sort that out... Meanwhile, for The Real Russians, business as usual. This looks like theatre hurting the wrong people.

alkonaut 5y ago
Anyone who ran across the border and hoped to get their savings from inside Russia once out were naive (or more likely just in a hurry). This is one of few good use cases for cryptocurrency.
- throw-ru-938 5y ago
  Getting hard currency in Russia right now is a long and difficult process, there's a massive shortage.
  - 3np 5y ago
    How difficult is it to get access to BTC? Does it trade at a premium?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- colesantiago 5y ago
  This is still not a usecase for 'cryptocurrencies' at all. In fact the big crypto exchanges have now blocked Russian users.
  - lekevicius 5y ago
    [citation needed]? I only know that Binance and Kraken specifically spoken against blocking the country.
    - colesantiago 5y ago
      Great, they can ban Russians when forced to anyway? So much for no censorship on crypto tokens even a South Korean crypto exchange has done it. [0] We both know the writing is on the wall and crypto will end up being useless for Russian users. [0] https://cryptopotato.com/south-korean-crypto-exchanges-block-russian-based-ip-addresses-report/ https://cryptopotato.com/south-korean-crypto-exchanges-block...
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - akimball 5y ago
        While you may know this, I know otherwise. Time will tell which of us has the more predictive knowledge.
    - 3np 5y ago
      To be more specific: They did not speak out about blocking "the country" but about closing accounts and restricting access for all Russian citizens/residents. They are, however, complying with targeted sanctions of the individuals on the sanction list. If the scope of the OFAC sanctions forces the exchanges to start blocking Russian passport holders and/or residents, that will change, of course. Kraken CEO tweet thread: http://nitter7bryz3jv7e3uekphigvmoyoem4al3fynerxkj22dmoxoq553qd.onion/jespow/status/1498112741684363265 http://nitter7bryz3jv7e3uekphigvmoyoem4al3fynerxkj22dmoxoq55...
  - 5y ago
- quotha 5y ago
  Yes, imagine, you only need to remember 12 words!
- dehrmann 5y ago
  There's a chance that this triggers EU, NATO, and partner countries to ban or heavily regulate cryptocurrencies.
  - 3np 5y ago
    Already on it, according to the director for cybersecurity and secure digital innovation for the US White House National Security Council. https://events.trmlabs.com/trm-labs/TRM-Talks-Russia-Sanctions https://events.trmlabs.com/trm-labs/TRM-Talks-Russia-Sanctio... (They ask you to register to view but viewing is possible without verifying the e-mail)
- SergeAx 5y ago
  What's wrong with getting savings across border using ATM cash withdrawal while abroad? Limits are quite high for debit cards (and could be customized via client support), ATM commissions in first world countries are more than reasonable (up to 0%).
raxi 5y ago
Lyon Feuchtwanger, a Jew and anti-fascist who fled Hitler's Germany, lost all his savings in banks in the US, Canada, Britain and France. Because of the sanctions imposed on him as a German citizen. The only bank he still had money in his account in 1945 was ...German.
- onetokeoverthe 5y ago
- claudenm 5y ago
  Any citation on that?
  - raxi 5y ago
    In his books (likely in autobiographical "Unholdes Frankreich")
vkou 5y ago
It's not theatre, between this, and the trade disruptions, it's currently crippling the Russian domestic economy. People at different levels of society are, of course, affected differently, but everybody's affected at this point. Even for an aristocrat, drinking moonshine in Krasnodar just doesn't have the same caché as Don Perignon in Paris.

assusdan 5y ago

In Russia, all country-local Visa and MasterCard payments are processed by country-owned NSPK system https://nspk.com https://nspk.com So all local payments will work, but no abroad payments (and no foreign cards to pay locally in Russia). Probably, I will lost most of my cloud data and compute resources incl. VPNs. Fortunately, some providers do accept SWIFT payments.

323 5y ago
Do the providers accept ruble? My understanding is that foreign currency transfers to outside was banned (capital control).
- assusdan 5y ago
  It is partially banned/restricted for companies only. Personal transactions do work well. However, there 12% tax on buying currencies on currency exchange for both companies and personal accounts
londons_explore 5y ago
You can always ask to borrow someone's card who doesn't live in Russia...
- thematrixturtle 5y ago
  And how do you pay them back?
  - megous 5y ago
    Work...
- assusdan 5y ago
  Yeah, that's what I will probably do. However, this doesnt sound secure, and some providers do check if card holders equals to account owner

cm2187 5y ago

But imagine the disruption for ordinary citizens. Like you won't be able to renew your domain names, or pay for office 365/gsuite/aws/azure. Companies who didn't migrate to the cloud won't look so stupid. Stephen Kotkin warned in a recent interview that the russians have their own way they can wreck havoc in our economies, like cutting undersea cables. And I also wonder if at one point the loss of revenues from cutting gas to europe will be worth given the economic impact it will inflict on the west (power cuts/lack of heating all over europe, price of gas sky-rocketting, etc).

laurent92 5y ago
Note that cutting the gas aligns with what the West citizen broadly want: Being forced faster than later to get rid of fossil energy. EU leaders certainly didn’t aim to secure the gas supply, they put all their might into sanctioning Russia “even if it costs the gas supply”. At this point I’m wondering whether Russia knows it and wants to impose any sanction except cutting the gas.
- native_samples 5y ago
  Western citizens to not broadly want that at all. They may say they do not that's conditional on a lot of unstated assumptions, like it not causing electricity to become unaffordable or entirely unavailable. Both of which would be likely consequences of an energy was with Russia. The moment that happens, people sitting in the cold will suddenly remember that Ukraine is a foreign country and they aren't actually at war.
Torifyme12 5y ago
If Russia cuts the undersea cables that's going to be even worse for them.

drdaeman 5y ago

> will no longer be supported On an completely unrelated note I'm sad to observe how corporate speech alters the language. I'm sure it's called "will be rejected" not "will no longer be supported". I have an ancient smartphone that's "no longer supported" and it still works. I'm sure the message meant that Russian cards won't, but I guess as people got routinely scared to use anything but the vaguest terms it became a habit.