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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is being called the world's first crypto war
Ukrainians have raised tens of millions of dollars in digital currency to assist in the fight against Russia. Washington aims to stop Russia from using crypto to bypass western sanctions.
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
Some are calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine the world's first crypto war. Here's why. On one hand, Ukrainians have raised tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to assist in the fighting. On the other, Washington is trying to stop Russia from using crypto to bypass Western sanctions.
NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn takes a deeper look at the role of crypto in this conflict.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE2: Crypto has attracted the likes of techno optimists3, criminals and oligarchs. The cryptocurrency market is worth $2 trillion. That's nearly four times the value of Facebook. Its appeal? It's exchanged anonymously4 and outside the reach of the global banking5 sector6. Now it's being used as a tool of modern warfare7.
TIMOTHY SPANGLER: When we went from stones to spears to catapults to guns, that new technology gets interwoven into times of conflict.
ALLYN: Timothy Spangler is a lawyer who specializes in digital currencies. He says since tough Western sanctions were imposed on Russia, all eyes have turned to cryptocurrency. That's because it operates on blockchain technology, a shared public database not overseen8 by banks.
SPANGLER: Blockchain technology gives the Russians the very ability that the Biden administration should be concerned about - the ability to transact9 directly.
ALLYN: The Biden administration and European officials say they are dialing up surveillance of blockchains to try to catch any activity from people connected to the Kremlin. Ukrainian officials have asked crypto exchanges to freeze all Russian accounts. The companies agreed to enforce a blacklist. But they are refusing to ban all Russian accounts, saying that would undermine the crypto community's libertarian ethos. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy for the Kremlin.
ROSS DELSTON: There's lots of problems here for the Russian government.
ALLYN: That's Ross Delston. He's a crypto expert and former banking regulator. He says crypto is volatile10. So parking lots of money in crypto could mean losing money for the Russian government. But an even bigger issue is Kremlin allies will have trouble making purchases unless they convert crypto into standard currency.
DELSTON: So where are you going to buy this stuff? - for example, food imports. What about spare parts for equipment and electronics that are not made in Russia?
ALLYN: Delston says buying those kinds of things will require currencies like the U.S. dollar or the euro - the sort of money that moves across the banking sector, the very place where Western officials are looking to enforce its sanctions.
DELSTON: There'll be an army of people in the U.S. government looking at cryptocurrency transactions, at least the ones on public blockchains.
ALLYN: Meanwhile, government officials in Ukraine have their own plan for crypto - providing funding to the military and its residents. The Ukrainian government has asked for donations in cryptocurrency and has so far raised more than $50 million in crypto.
Alex Gladstein with the Human Rights Foundation has been assisting in the fundraising.
ALEX GLADSTEIN: Humanitarian11 implications of this are massive.
ALLYN: He says it's the everyday citizens caught in the middle of the war who might actually benefit the most from established cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, since it can be transmitted instantly and without a local bank account or even an ID.
GLADSTEIN: War, however it's waged, hurts the average person more than it hurts the elites12. Now we have a technology that benefits everybody equally. And it's inspiring to see that people now have this, like, backup plan.
ALLYN: More and more aid groups are trying to make crypto accessible to Ukrainians. But the world of cryptocurrency is complicated. It requires real tech savvy13, navigating14 a host of apps and online marketplaces - likely not top of mind for people in the midst of war.
Bobby Allyn, NPR News.
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1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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3 optimists | |
n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 ) | |
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4 anonymously | |
ad.用匿名的方式 | |
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5 banking | |
n.银行业,银行学,金融业 | |
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6 sector | |
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形 | |
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7 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
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8 overseen | |
v.监督,监视( oversee的过去分词 ) | |
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9 transact | |
v.处理;做交易;谈判 | |
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10 volatile | |
adj.反复无常的,挥发性的,稍纵即逝的,脾气火爆的;n.挥发性物质 | |
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11 humanitarian | |
n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者 | |
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12 elites | |
精华( elite的名词复数 ); 精锐; 上层集团; (统称)掌权人物 | |
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13 savvy | |
v.知道,了解;n.理解能力,机智,悟性;adj.有见识的,懂实际知识的,通情达理的 | |
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14 navigating | |
v.给(船舶、飞机等)引航,导航( navigate的现在分词 );(从海上、空中等)横越;横渡;飞跃 | |
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