Crypto News: Putin’s money game

On paper it's been a bad week for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His invasion of Ukraine has brought Europe closer together, leading the European Union to grant Ukraine candidacy status and Sweden and Finland to get their foot in the door at NATO. Group of Seven nations are looking at putting a cap on the price of Russian oil, and mulling one on gas, too.

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Yet vast amounts of money continue to flow into Russian coffers, even with the sanctions slapped on Putin's regime. He continues to use his leverage on gas to cause trouble well beyond Ukraine's borders.

For all the talk of price caps, countries are tying themselves in knots on how to enact them. Even for oil it could prove too hard. Meanwhile, bigger economies like China and India simply keep buying from Russia.

German energy giant Uniper SE may need a government bailout because Russia has curtailed natural gas supplies, forcing it to pay more to buy from elsewhere. Uniper shares fell as much as 23% today on the news.

In the UK, the national grid is asking companies how much they would need to be paid to reduce their operations in order to avoid potential blackouts and winter rationing. Others such as Italy are spending more to defray the cost of energy.

Far from collapsing as the US and others predicted, Russia's ruble has strengthened to seven-year highs (albeit with tough currency controls).

For many countries it remains business as usual with Russia. In India, where the government has failed to condemn Putin's war, the executives of several firms baldly describe Russia as an "opportunity" as big international companies leave.

Now some European governments are urging people to take shorter showers and dry their clothes outside — a sign the fallout is being felt all the way to ordinary households. — Rosalind Mathieson

Protesters against Russia's invasion at the G-7 summit. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

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Bulking up | As well as moving to add new members Finland and Sweden, NATO leaders meeting in Madrid agreed to put more than 300,000 troops on high alert and to beef up European defenses with new equipment, including two additional squadrons of US F-35 stealth fighters. The response to Russia's aggression amounts to the biggest upgrade of the alliance's military presence in Europe since the end of the Cold War.

Russia confirmed it withdrew troops from Ukraine's Snake Island in the Black Sea after Ukrainian forces said they had pulled out under massive attack.
Follow our latest coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine here.

A Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter. Photographer: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Mainland departure | President Xi Jinping left mainland China for the first time in 893 days today, arriving in Hong Kong for events to mark 25 years of Chinese rule in the former British colony. Xi has halted all international travel since Covid-19 emerged, with his last trip outside China to Myanmar coming days before the central city of Wuhan went into lockdown.

As Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam leaves office today, read here about some of her most consequential moments.

China's economy showed further signs of improvement in June with a strong pickup in services and construction as Covid-19 outbreaks and restrictions were gradually eased. The official manufacturing purchasing managers index indicated an expansion in output in May for the first time since February.

Marcos returns | Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the late Philippine dictator's son, was sworn in as the country's president today, completing his family's political revival nearly four decades after his father's ouster. The former senator returns to the presidential palace where he spent his youth after winning last month's election by a landslide with a campaign that promised unity and measures to spur the economy.

Take five | Israel's parliament voted today to dissolve itself, paving the way for the nation's fifth election in less than four years after a fragile governing coalition collapsed. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will become interim prime minister, replacing Naftali Bennett, until a new government is formed following the Nov. 1 elections.

Tech backlash | European consumer groups are accusing Google of putting users on "a fast-track to surveillance" when they sign up to an account that the US tech giant can use to monitor and process their data. The Brussels-based regional consumer organization BEUC is coordinating actions by 10 national groups against the company, which has said it's now presenting different options when someone creates a new account.

Bloomberg TV and Radio air Balance of Power with David Westin weekdays from 12 to 1 p.m. ET, with a second hour on Bloomberg Radio from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. Senator Pat Toomey will be on today at 12:10 ET. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online here or check out prior episodes and guest clips here.

US Republican Representative Liz Cheney said her GOP colleagues must choose between Donald Trump or the Constitution, after evidence emerged at a congressional committee of his efforts to block Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
Talks in Qatar this week to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers made little headway, according to the EU envoy mediating the discussions.
Gabon, the world's second-most forested nation, aims to create 187 million carbon credits, almost half of which may be sold on the offsets market in what would be the single largest issuance in history.
The US Defense Department said a flight test of a hypersonic missile system in Hawaii ended in failure, a fresh blow to a program that has suffered stumbles.
Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso adopted a tougher stance against protests that have hobbled much of the economy for more than two weeks, after he beat back an impeachment attempt.

And finally ... While he was a decent sports reporter, Bobomurod Abdullayev excelled as a politics blogger. For most of the past two decades, Abdullayev kept this second job a secret from even his wife and kids. Under his own name, he wrote soccer columns and posted YouTube videos of himself singing folk songs. But when he clicked over to a different tab, he became Usman Haqnazarov. Read Matthew Bremner's report on the whistleblower who shook Uzbekistan.