A top official from Russia revealed that Russia has begun to cooperate with other countries regarding the possible use of stablecoins for international payments. After Moscow’s key institutions reached an agreement that cross-border crypto payments must be legalized, the news was announced.
Russia is looking to build stablecoin platforms to facilitate trade with partners
The Russian government is now working with several “friendly countries” on the establishment of clearing platforms for international settlements in stablecoins, Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev revealed, quoted by the Tass news agency.
“We are currently working with a number of countries to create bilateral platforms in order not to use dollars and euros,” Moiseev said, explaining that Moscow offers to employ “mutually acceptable tokenized instruments” on these platforms.
The high-ranking government official further elaborated that the “stablecoins can be pegged to some generally recognized instrument, for example, gold, the value of which is clear and observable for all participants.”
Moiseev’s statement on Tuesday followed other Russian media reports indicating that his department and the central bank have reached consensus that for Russia “it is impossible to do without cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency” in the current conditions.
Moscow must deal with the increasing Western sanctions and restraints imposed on it for its invasion of neighboring Ukraine. This has severely restricted its access to international financial markets. Russian top officials and regulators have supported the use of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, in foreign commerce.
It has been clarified by the Bank of Russia that the agreement will not allow for crypto-payments and exchange operations within Russia. Earlier this year, its Governor Elvira Nabiullina admitted that coins could be used for payments as long as they “don’t penetrate” Russia’s financial system.
The Ministry of Finance hopes that any problems related to international crypto payment use will be resolved during the Fall Session of the State Duma (the lower Russian house of parliament). This department was the catalyst behind new legislation to regulate all crypto transactions in Russia.
The law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which went into force in January of 2021, addresses only some aspects of the matter, such as those pertaining to the circulation of digital currencies that have an issuing entity, or “digital financial assets,” and digital tokens, defined as “digital rights.” Russian lawmakers are expected to review the new bill “On Digital Currency” in the coming months and also regulate related business activities such as crypto mining, which has expanded as an industry.
Are you expecting Russia to use cryptocurrencies and stablecoins when it comes time for trade deals? Comment below.
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