Russia Plans to Offer International Crypto Payment Options, Finance Ministry Official Says
The draft bill on digital currencies prepared by the Ministry of Finance should create a framework for crypto settlements, a statement from a Russian official confirmed on September 19.
Interfax quoted the head of the finance ministry’s fiscal department, Ivan Chebeskov, as saying that the draft bill on digital currencies will outline a list of currencies and counterparty countries for a settlement framework. He added, “The Ministry of Finance has developed a bill on digital currencies. It is comprehensive and includes many things.”
“But when it comes to payments, we’re creating a mechanism for business rather than building this architecture completely, because it’s not entirely clear how it’s going to be regulated, so we’re giving businesses the ability with this bill to pay with cryptocurrency, but in the form of of which cryptocurrencies will be used, how to negotiate with counterparties, with which countries it will operate – we leave all this to entrepreneurs,” said Chebeskov.
Global sanctions led to crypto push
International sanctions crippled Russia’s economy after it invaded Ukraine. Now it seems that the government is trying to avoid the penalties by legalizing the use of cryptocurrency in cross-border payments.
Be[In]Crypto recently noted that the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia said they are revising their policy and appear to support the use of digital wallets to make cross-border payments.
Entrepreneurs “will better figure it out and understand what will work and what won’t,” Chebeskov further noted. “When a large number of people deal with this problem, one finds some correct solution over time, better than if we do [the authorities] proposed a solution that would not work for many. It will be on the business side[es] to determine the spectrum of how it will work,” the official said.
“And if this has to be raised to some intergovernmental level, then of course we will also get involved and promote it in one way or another as part of international cooperation. But since there are already requests from the business, we expect that this will be work that the business has either already done or will do in the future,” added Chebeskov.
The Ministry of Finance did not agree with the proposal for a central bank ban
Notably, back in June, the first transaction involving a fintech company and a cash-backed digital financial asset was conducted by VTB, one of the largest state banks in Russia. In the transaction, engineering company Metrowagonmash was tokenized on Lighthouse’s platform, raising fears that Russia would circumvent sanctions with similar transactions.
Recently, state-owned media agency TASS quoted Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev as saying that Russia is working with some friendly countries to create clearing platforms for cross-border settlements in stable coins backed by real assets. We are currently working with a number of countries to create bilateral platforms and not use dollars and euros, Moiseev said.
The change in stance comes after the Russian central bank released a paper discussing the role of cryptocurrency in the Russian financial sector, proposing a ban on its use, trading and mining at the beginning of this year.
However, the Russian Ministry of Finance maintained an opposing view against a ban. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov stated in February that his ministry believes crypto should be legalized and taxed instead.
In this regard, Chebeskov said: “The current restrictions are a driver for us to use these technologies, including as a new mechanism for international payments. But in my opinion, this is only part of all the possibilities that both digital financial assets and digital currencies can give.”
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