The Bank of Russia has historically been opposed to the alternative of using cryptocurrencies as a payment method. However, according to a report, it has recently agreed to allow cross-border and international payments in cryptocurrencies due to the recent geopolitical changes that are taking place. This report shows how the central bank of this country has admitted that international payments in cryptocurrencies are inevitable in the current geopolitical situation in which its country is immersed.
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In this way, the Russian central bank has reconsidered its strict regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies, reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to legalize cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments. Alexei Moiseev, Russian Deputy Minister of Finance, explained that the Bank of Russia and the Ministry want to legitimize cross-border payments in cryptos in a short period of time. In addition, he stressed the importance of enabling local crypto services in Russia because “many Russians rely on foreign platforms to be able to open a cryptocurrency wallet.” Moiseev explained that they consider that “it is necessary to do it in Russia and involve entities supervised by the central bank, complying with their Anti-Money Laundering obligations.”
While Russian lawmakers have been betting on the alternative of using cryptocurrencies as a payment method for years and the Bank of Russia has always been skeptical about allowing cryptocurrency payments in order to "protect the Russian ruble as the only legal tender in the country," The idea of allowing crypto payments began to be floated in late 2021, although President Putin then considered it “premature,” especially when it came to trading “energy resources such as oil and gas.”
Today, against a backdrop of Western economic sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the situation has changed and already in May the Minister of Industry and Trade stated that Russia would legalize crypto payments “sooner or later” while the governor of the bank suggested that “cryptocurrencies could be used for cross-border payments, but only if they do not enter the Russian national financial system.”
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Finally, Moiseev says the central bank has reconsidered its stance in order to regulate the industry and because “the situation has changed and the current infrastructure is too rigid to use cryptocurrencies in cross-border settlements, which makes it necessary to effectively legalize these procedures.”
