Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed that Russian companies have begun using cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin coins mined in Russia) for international payments to circumvent Western sanctions.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed that Russian companies have begun using cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin coins mined in Russia) for international payments to circumvent Western sanctions.
Sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine have made it difficult for Russia to trade with its main partners, such as China and Turkey, as local banks are extremely cautious about conducting operations with the Russian Federation to avoid scrutiny from Western regulators, Reuters reports.
This year, Russia allowed the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and took steps to legalize the mining of cryptocurrencies, in particular Bitcoin. The Russian Federation is home to some of the largest mining capacities for this cryptocurrency.
«As part of the experimental regime, you can use Bitcoin that we mined here in Russia (in foreign trade operations). Such operations are already taking place. We believe that they need to be expanded and developed further. I am sure that this will happen next year», — Siluanov said.
Previously, Russian dictator Putin spoke of Bitcoin as a reserve world currency that could become an alternative to the dollar.
Vladyslav Vlasyuk, the Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, stated that Ukraine had drawn the attention of its partners back in the summer to Russia’s plans to use cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions.
«Appropriate sanctions and other solutions to block the possibility of using unwanted cryptocurrency payments are already being prepared», — he noted.
It was previously reported that cryptocurrency mining was banned in the so-called DPR, LPR, and other occupied territories of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions due to a lack of energy capacity.
