The Bank of Russia has been leery of cryptocurrency payments since there is only one legal money in the country—the Russian ruble.
Cross-border crypto transactions are reportedly inevitable given the current geopolitical environment, according to reports from the Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, as quoted by Cointelegraph.
A local news source, TASS, reports that the Russian central bank has rethought its position on how to handle cryptocurrency regulation and has chosen to collaborate with the finance ministry to provide it with legal status for foreign transfers.
Alexei Moiseev, the deputy finance minister, reportedly said that cross-border cryptocurrency payments will soon be legalized by the Bank of Russia and the finance ministry. Moiseev emphasized the necessity for local cryptocurrency services in Russia, pointing out that many Russians utilize foreign websites to build bitcoin wallets. The official insisted that this must be done in Russia, using institutions governed by the central bank that is compelled to follow Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering laws, as reported by Cointelegraph.
Russian legislators have long opposed the idea of accepting cryptocurrencies as payment. In 2020, Russia enacted a key crypto policy titled “On Digital Financial Assets” that forbade the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as payment methods. The Bank of Russia has been leery of cryptocurrency payments since there is only one legal money in the country—the Russian ruble.
The idea of accepting cryptocurrencies as payment first surfaced in Russia in late 2021. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, then said that it was “still early” to trade cryptocurrencies for natural resources like oil and gas.
The governor of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, later proposed that cryptocurrency may be used for international payments, but only provided it didn’t infiltrate Russia’s domestic financial system. The Minister of Industry and Trade stated in May that Russia will “sooner or later” legalize cryptocurrency payments.
