Russian companies may start trading in cryptocurrency with partners abroad as early as next year and will be free to take whatever coins they want to use, officials in Moscow have suggested. The sanctioned country is preparing to legalize foreign trade settlements in digital assets and this may happen in the coming months.
The Russian government is set to greenlight international transactions in cryptocurrencies.
Russia’s “digital currency” law, proposed by the Ministry of Finance in February this year and supported by the government, may allow cross-border crypto settlements. Russian lawmakers are expected to be reviewed during the fall of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Ivan Chebeskov, director of the ministry’s financial stability department, was quoted as saying that the draft contains a provision regarding international transactions with digital assets. It recognizes cryptocurrency as an asset that can be used in barter deals. At the same time, the authority did not rule out the adoption of a special law specifically regulating cross-border crypto payments.
“We have a number of legislative initiatives that have not yet been officially presented to the government. Therefore, there may be various options for how this can be implemented,” Chebeskov told Daily Izvestia, adding that the initiative could come from representatives. In the year It is very realistic to expect to see global crypto transactions by 2023, he added.
One of the legislators involved in these efforts, Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Financial Markets, admitted in a conversation with the newspaper that he is ready to support legislative actions that regulate the issue. He also explained that Russian businesses can choose which cryptocurrency they want to trade in – bitcoin, ethereum or any other.
But he emphasized that Russia should create its own crypto infrastructure, that participants should enter the crypto market only through it and under strict control. Aksakov admitted that the country does not currently have this infrastructure, but said that the stock exchanges in Moscow and St. Petersburg are ready to provide it. He was also positive that international transactions with crypto could start next year.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy of Russia has stated that it is working together with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Russia on the use of digital currency in foreign trade. The representatives confirmed that the department supports this system as it has the potential to reduce the pressure from the sanctions, especially for small and medium enterprises that have problems making international payments.
Russia has been trying to find a way around a widening financial embargo imposed by Western governments as a result of its military invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank recently agreed that the country cannot do without cross-border settlement in cryptocurrency. A staunch opponent of allowing free circulation of bitcoins, the monetary authority emphasized that there is no talk of crypto being legalized as a means of payment in the country.
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