In recent times, Russia has been leaning towards cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Sanctions against the country since its evasion of Ukraine began had been piling up, and the government had begun turning to cryptography to circumvent those sanctions. In its most recent move, the Central Bank of Russia has moved to legalize crypto for cross-border payments.
Russia improves trade
Over the past two months, the Russian government has been open about its stance on crypto. He had previously said the country was exploring ways it could use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to help improve payments in the country. Now, he has taken concrete steps to do so.
On September 22, the Central Bank of Russia announced that it had reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to allow crypto payments for cross-border use. This means that because crypto will not be a payment method in the country, individuals and businesses will be able to use it to conduct crypto transactions outside of Russia’s borders. It would also allow residents to access and operate digital asset portfolios in the country.
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The bill contained ways how individuals and businesses can obtain cryptocurrencies, what they can do with those cryptocurrencies, and how payments will be made. Russia also wants to catch up with the rest of the world, according to Aleksey Moiseev, the finance minister.
Moiseev alluded to the fact that people outside of Russia can access and use digital asset wallets. As such, residents of the country should be able to access it. However, he called for regulation of cryptocurrencies so that they cannot be used by bad actors for nefarious purposes. “Now people are opening crypto wallets outside of the Russian Federation. This needs to be done in Russia, to be done by entities supervised by the Central Bank, to meet the requirements of anti-money laundering legislation, and in first place, of course, know your customer. “said the Minister of Finance.
Accepting cryptocurrency as a means of cross-border payment will help the country evade the numerous financial sanctions that have been imposed on it. Russia also maintains a tight lid on cryptocurrency use, allowing it only outside the country and involving entities overseen by the central bank.
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