Crypto Cross-Border Payments Are Finally Approved by Russian Officials.

Amid the War between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian government as well as a number of businesses and individuals were in the sights of economic sanctions which were applied by Europe and the USA. Two more individuals and two Russia-based entities were added to the United States Treasury Department’s sanctions list this past September 2022, stating they had promoted the Russian government’s intentions for Ukraine.

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Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev had been working on an alternative cross-border payment system for a while now, and his aim has been to use cryptocurrencies for these payments. In the beginning, there was resistance from Putin. He later then had to convince the government, and get help from The Bank of Russia. However he finally got the approval for the system which will allow for cross-border payments to be made via cryptocurrencies.

With the government’s approval and the agreement of the Russian Central Bank; Russian residents will be able to send and receive cross-border payments via cryptocurrencies. Therefore, Russian nationals will be allowed to have crypto wallets.

“The policy generally describes how to acquire cryptocurrency, what can be done with it, and how it can or cannot be settled with it in the first place in cross-border settlements,” said Moiseev.

Although the cross-border payment system is approved and Russian nationals will be encouraged to set up crypto wallets inside the country, the Central Bank of Russia is still rejecting the idea of allowing crypto exchanges to work legally within the country. Also, the bank does not accept the idea of cryptocurrencies being accepted as a legal asset.

On September 2022, Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said on his statement:

“Now that people are opening crypto wallets outside the Russian Federation, it is necessary to do this in Russia with entities supervised by the Central Bank, which are required to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer requirements.”

Russia’s relationship with cryptocurrencies has not been clear since the beginning. In 2020, the use of cryptocurrencies was banned and later in July 2022 President Putin prohibited the use of digital assets as payment for goods and services within the country.

According to those in-the-law, the Putin Government is building a digital asset ecosystem as a test to create their own goal of establishing independent payment systems.

Also, a number of government officials support using cryptocurrencies.

Source: cointelegraph.com