Russia is facing economic sanctions from the US and other western countries after the invasion of Ukraine and is looking to use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions.
At this point, Russia, which recently approved the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in international transactions, is developing its financial infrastructure to use crypto.
Russia is developing its financial infrastructure to use cryptocurrencies in international trade in an effort to bypass Western sanctions, according to a Chainalysis report cited by The Block.
In its report, Chainalysis highlighted legislation that legalizes crypto mining and allows cryptocurrencies to be used for international payments, saying:
“The bill allowing crypto payments in Russia was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on August 8, and crypto payment trials are scheduled to begin this September.
Russia’s latest legal efforts in the crypto space are part of broader efforts to develop alternative payment mechanisms to ease Western sanctions pressure and reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar, a long-term goal for Russia, particularly amid rising geopolitical tensions.”
“The Russian central bank is leading an initiative to integrate cryptocurrency into Russia’s financial system for cross-border payments, creating an experimental infrastructure that will allow approved Russian businesses and organizations to use digital currencies for international trade,” said Valerie Kennedy, director of investigations at Chainalysis.
Chainalysis recently noted that Russia-based cryptocurrency exchanges could be used to process cross-border payments, citing Tetchange, 100btc, Bitzlato, Suex, and Garantex as examples of these exchanges and emphasizing that these exchanges could potentially be used to facilitate payments.
*This is not investment advice.
