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Opinion
Leonid Bershidsky

Authoritarian Cryptocurrencies Are Coming

Russia and China see a new way to completely control their financial systems.
Central banking, the bitcoin way.

Central banking, the bitcoin way.

Photographer: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

With Russia and China both embracing the idea of sovereign cryptocurrencies, it's time to ask a simple question: Why is a technology threatening to decentralize money so attractive to highly centralized, authoritarian regimes?

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