Solana and the cryptocurrency market are at the mercy of Vladimir Putin

<p>Solana, like the crypto world, is a victim of current circumstances.</p> <p>It's becoming clear that we live in Russian President Vladimir Putin's world in the already dramatic year of 2022. Even decentralised cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), which should theoretically be immune to geopolitical upheaval, are no match for his enormous power.</p> <p>Russia has been involved in a number of military engagements, redrawing the global map as it sees fit. Nonetheless, it appears that many people continue to consider China as the most significant geopolitical opponent of the United States, rather than Russia.</p> <p>This strikes me as odd, given that Russia has just pushed the world to the verge of World War III while also bringing the spirit and integrity of the Olympic Games into disrepute. I'm not sure what else the Kremlin can do to climb the "adversary list" of the United States. This leads me to Solana.</p> <p>Solana is one of the next wave of utilitarian blockchain projects, if you've been following the cryptocurrency field. In a nutshell, the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), established the feasibility of transmitting digital assets across a decentralised distributed network without the use of a third-party intermediary. Later, Ethereum (ETH) introduced smart-contract technology, which enabled decentralisation in a variety of applications.</p> <p>However, in both situations, these ground-breaking blockchain networks grew too large, cumbersome, and costly. That's where Solana and other comparable technologies came into their own, bringing speed, scale, and security - all while keeping transaction costs low.</p> <p>It was lovely until Putin came along.</p> <p>Putin Discloses Solana's and Crypto's Economic Reality</p> <p>If you've been paying attention to global happenings in recent years, you'll know that Vladimir Putin has lofty goals. In fact, a 2016 piece in U.S. News and World Report reported that Leon Panetta, a guy who served in a number of high-level government roles, publicly questioned