The Western financial system is becoming outdated because of new technologies and could lose its dominant global position in the near future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
Addressing the VTB Investment Forum in Moscow, Putin pointed out that modern tech solutions, such as blockchain, are increasingly being used in international payments.
“According to experts, in the coming years this will lead to a real revolution that will finally undermine the monopoly of large Western banks,” Putin said, noting that some of those financial institutions are currently “not in the best condition.”
The Russian president added that the interbank messaging system SWIFT has been discredited because it cut off Russian banks and is being replaced by payments in national currencies.
Global economic relations are changing, and the previous model of globalization is being replaced by a multipolar model, according to Putin.