What is SWIFT in eight tweets

99% of the people I know today found out what the SWIFT network is”, assures @nicoblancop the morning we became experts in financial gateways.

We woke up without knowing very well what SWIFT is, we understood its importance in the early hours of the morning and we became experts in the afternoon.

And all without leaving Twitter.

These are eight educational tweets about the financial screw that could tighten Putin, but also the rest of Europe, China and even the Alcázar de San Juan wineries.

99% of the people I know today found out what the SWIFT network is

– 🍞 (@nicoblancop) February 27, 2022

1.

“The SWIFT thing for the uninitiated.

It's as if you couldn't make transfers or bizum or card payments or anything.

You can be rich, but they disconnect you from the payment, with which the money is useless to you, ”explains @oscaraca.

2.

However, as soon as the measure is known, many people assure on the social network that just throwing out some banks will not be effective.

That the disconnection cannot be partial and that it is too lukewarm.

Analyst Philipp Heimberger explains in a tweet – accompanied by an interesting infographic – how “Russia's banking system is dominated by a small number of state-controlled banks (Sberbank, VTB, Gazprom Bank), so it is very effective that US and European Union sanctions target these specific institutions.”

Philipp, in addition to tweeting, is an analyst at the Institute for the International Study of Economics in Vienna.

Russia's banking system is dominated by a small number of state-controlled banks (Sberbank, VTB, Gazprom Bank), so that it's very effective for US/EU sanctions to target these specific institutions.

Chart via @IIF pic.twitter.com/QbNwX9jrSZ

— Philipp Heimberger (@heimbergecon) February 27, 2022

3.

“SWIFT disconnection is no joke.

The banks will fail or Russia will have to print so much money that inflation, already high, will suffocate them.

If you don't believe me, look at what's happening right now," says Gabriel López with a link to a video posted by Oles Filonenko where an endless queue can be seen to get money at a Russian ATM.

The video is already close to a million views.

4.

"Russia can be removed from the SWIFT banking system, but the European Union does not mention that the country can operate with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin," recalls @zulueta23.

Not surprisingly, #Bitcoin has become a trend, along with #Swift.

🛑👉 It can be removed 🇷🇺 from the #SWIFT banking system, but the 🇪🇺 does not mention that the country can operate with cryptocurrencies like #Bitcoin ❗️👇 pic.twitter.com/iCjuU4Jucc

– John de Zulueta (@zulueta23) February 27, 2022

5.

“There is already serious talk of economic sanctions, including expelling Russia from the SWIFT system and bitcoin is rising.

For better or worse, cryptocurrencies cannot be controlled”, comments @lamMeZdO.

Although, others point out that this measure may end up prohibiting digital currencies in Europe and the United States.

6.

“One question, if Russia is expelled from SWIFT, how will we pay for the gas we buy from it?” asks very practical @Borja19867, the same week that the bill has become stratospheric.

7.

Journalist Silvia Cruz Lapeña focuses on the local victims of international sanctions, a small story that expands on the big one.

“Russia is the third client of the Alcázar de San Juan winery”, in Ciudad Real, she recalls.

"If they take them out of SWIFT, where the transfers are made, we would have 160,000 euros in the air, which they owe us," she adds.

Russia is the third client of the Alcázar de San Juan winery: "If they take them out of SWIFT, where the transfers are made, we would have €160,000 in the air, which they owe us"

A 'small' story that amplifies the big one.

x @ tonicuart in @Avivir https://t.co/GL97E6Zrzu

– Silvia Cruz Lapeña (@silviacruz_news) February 27, 2022

8.

“I have no idea whether Putin underestimated the resistance in Ukraine and was hoping for something faster.

But Putin doesn't seem to me like the profile of 'ah, they'll cut off my SWIFT, so I'm going home'.

He seems to me more of the type 'how come there are no eggs? ”, Summarizes Antonio Hedilla.

It is true that all roads lead to Putin and that he is always a bad ending.

But also that he is more and more alone.

And poorer.