The Bank of Russia has reportedly admitted that cross-border payments in crypto are inevitable in the current geopolitical conditions. The Russian central bank has been rethinking the approach to regulating crypto and agreed with the finance ministry to legalize crypto for cross-border payments.
Deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev reportedly said that the Bank of Russia and the finance ministry expect to legitimize cross-border payments in crypto soon. Moiseev outlined the importance of enabling local crypto services in Russia, noting that many Russians rely on foreign platforms to open a crypto wallet.
Russian lawmakers have been historically opposed to the idea of using cryptocurrencies as a payment method. In 2020, Russia adopted a major crypto law, “On Digital Financial Assets,” which officially prohibited the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for payment purposes. The Bank of Russia has been skeptical about the idea of cryptocurrency payments because it wanted to protect the Russian ruble as the only legal tender in the country.
The situation has apparently changed amid Western economic sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In May, the Minister of Industry and Trade declared that Russia would legalize crypto payments “sooner or later.” Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina also later suggested that crypto can be used for cross-border payments, but only if crypto doesn’t get into Russia’s domestic financial system.
