• Russia’s Congressional finance committee chairman, Anatoly Aksakov, announced that the country is moving to legalize international trade in cryptocurrency within the next month.
• Aksakov highlighted that although Russia is taking steps to allow bitcoin and cryptocurrency payments for imports, there are no plans to encourage similar usage of the burgeoning assets within the boundaries of the nation’s territory.
• Russia laid out a roadmap for bitcoin regulation in January 2022, and the Ministry of Finance submitted a proposal in the following month.
The Russian government is poised to greenlight the use of cryptocurrency for international trade within the next month, according to the country’s Congressional finance committee chairman, Anatoly Aksakov. Speaking to the national news agency TASS, Aksakov noted that while the use of cryptocurrencies would be allowed for imports, the Russian government has no plans to encourage similar usage of the nascent asset within Russia’s borders.
The announcement follows an intense package of Western sanctions deployed in the wake of the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. In January 2022, the Ministry of Finance proposed a roadmap for bitcoin regulation, and one month later, Russia said it was open to selling natural gas for bitcoin.
The news was welcomed by the chairman of the country’s Congressional energy committee, Pavel Zavalny, who stated that “there can be a variety of currencies, and that’s a standard practice. If they want bitcoin, we will trade in bitcoin.”
Russia has been taking steps to implement a bitcoin infrastructure and promote its use in international trade. In 2020, the country launched a number of initiatives, including the launch of a blockchain-based platform to facilitate the sale of digital assets, and the establishment of a blockchain-based authentication system for digital payments.
Despite the progress made in the area of cryptocurrency regulation, the Russian government has yet to set up a clear regulatory framework for the use of digital assets. The existing laws do not provide clear guidance on the taxation of cryptocurrency, and the government has yet to clarify its stance on the legality of digital currencies.
The move to legalize international trade in cryptocurrency is an important step in Russia’s efforts to become a major player in the global digital economy. By allowing businesses to use digital assets for international trade, the country is hoping to become a hub for cryptocurrency-based transactions.
Meanwhile, the Russian government is also looking to ensure that the use of digital currencies is regulated in a way that protects users from fraud and money laundering. The government has already proposed changes to its anti-money laundering laws, which would require digital currency exchanges to store customer data and report suspicious transactions.
As Russia continues to move towards legalizing the use of digital assets, it remains to be seen how the country will manage to tackle the many challenges that come with the new technology. Nevertheless, the news that the country is taking steps to allow cryptocurrency payments for imports is a positive step forward for the digital economy in the region.