Russia plans to use cryptocurrencies for international trade? Central Bank: Open

Earlier this week, Russia’s finance ministry said it was considering allowing cryptocurrencies to be used for international trade settlements in order to offset the impact of Western sanctions. According to Reuters , Russia’s central bank, which had called for a ban on cryptocurrencies, said recently that it is not interested in the above-mentioned concerns . The proposal is open-ended.

“In principle, we are not against the use of cryptocurrencies in international trade,” said Ksenia Yudaeva, first vice-president of the Central Bank of Russia.

However, the central bank’s openness seems to be limited there. Ksenia Yudaeva went on to explain:

We still believe that the widespread use of cryptocurrencies in this country, especially in the Russian financial infrastructure, would pose a huge risk to citizens and users. We believe that these risks can be quite high in our country.

In January this year, the Central Bank of Russia called for a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies and mining in Russia, citing threats to financial stability, public welfare and monetary policy sovereignty, but the Russian Ministry of Finance’s attitude is more inclined to legislative regulation of cryptocurrencies. There are obvious differences in attitude. According to a report by Russian media “RBC” on January 26, President Vladimir Putin even stated that he asked the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank to reach an agreement on the regulatory policy of cryptocurrencies.

In February of this year, the Russian Ministry of Finance formally submitted a draft cryptocurrency regulation to the parliament, which it said would define cryptocurrencies as “Analogue of Currencies” rather than just digital financial assets. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said afterwards: “The central bank wants to take measures to ban cryptocurrencies, thinking that it poses a risk, but this is the same as banning the Internet in Russia, which is impossible.”

The Blocker reported in March this year that facing severe sanctions from Western countries, the Russian economy is being isolated like never before. Possibility to buy energy”.

Soon after, Elvira Nabiullina, President of the Russian Central Bank, who had been opposed to cryptocurrencies in the past, suddenly softened his attitude after being re-elected, frankly admitting that the Russian Central Bank’s stance on cryptocurrencies was too tough in the past, and it is now necessary to relax the strict restrictions on cryptocurrencies, and said, She worries that if the handling of cryptocurrencies is not gentle enough, it will be difficult to attract capital and sustain the economy.