Why Energy Experts Are Watching Crypto as Oil Wars Emerge

Global energy markets could impact the future of bitcoin, but not strictly in terms of supply or demand. 

On the surface, the current oil market chaos may appear to be a power struggle between Russia and Saudi Arabia, which have differing views on whether to reduce production to accommodate the slowdown or bury the U.S. shale market by making it too expensive to keep up.

“Usually when oil is cheap, the dollar is stronger. But we haven’t seen that in this crisis, because of the coronavirus,” said Fadi Aboualfa, managing director of the MEES energy newsletter.

There are rumors of Iranian efforts to use cryptocurrency to circumnavigate sanctions, potentially with deals related to commodities or oil markets. So far, Russia, China and Iran have been among the most proactive nations exploring the cryptocurrency space. Even as a top oil-producing country, Russia has historically been the odd man out of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), dominated by Saudi…