Central Bank of Russia Trials Crypto for International Payments

JAKARTA – Russia plans to use cryptocurrencies as international payment instruments. For now, the Russian government through the financial authority of the Federal Central Bank of Russia (CBR) will conduct a trial of crypto payments first.

This was announced by the First Deputy Chair of the CBR, Olga Skorobogatova, last Monday, December 19, 2022. She explained that for now, the government is drafting a law to use crypto as a means of international payment.

"We are now planning, within the framework of the experimental legal regime that we are preparing, to try the use of cryptocurrencies for international settlements, that is, for foreign economic activities", Olga Skorobogatova was quoted as saying by local media Tass.

The plan was presented by Skorobogatova before the chamber of Russia's parliament, the State Duma. He detailed that a pilot project would be implemented with interested companies. Even so, he did not mention in detail the names of the companies that joined the pilot project.

Meanwhile, Moscow is working on a regulatory framework to apply to decentralized digital assets such as cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, the Central Bank of Russia also took a tough stance on the Russian government's efforts to legalize crypto for international payments. However, over time, the financial authority softened amid the actions of Western countries which limited Russia's financial access to global markets.

According to a Bitcoin.com News report, in September, Deputy Minister of Finance, Alexey Moiseev, revealed that his department and monetary policy regulators had agreed that, under current conditions, it would be impossible for Russia to do without cross-border settlements in cryptocurrencies.

Even so, the Central Bank of Russia allows the circulation of cryptocurrencies under Russian jurisdiction. The authorities also allow the use of crypto for domestic transactions. Furthermore, CBR also provides support for crypto mining regulations on the condition that cryptocurrency produced by domestic mining and printing is not exchanged in foreign markets.