The Russian government was infamously against using or regulating digital crypto assets. However, the current geopolitical situation forced the leaders of the nation to shift their stance on cryptocurrencies.
What is happening to the Russian economy?
Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, the whole world has been piling on the Russian economy imposing one package of sanctions after another. Note that the nation has been under sanctions since 2014, but the beginning of the special military operation severely strengthened already existing sanctions and added a couple more.
With another series of sanctions scheduled for December and the western world defying natural resources provided by Russia, its government found itself in a peculiar situation where they need to keep up international trade when it cannot access swift and pay for imported goods with foreign currencies.
Just like Iran, Russia decided to relax its stance on cryptocurrencies to allow all businesses and financial institutions in the country to use crypto in international trade. Ivan Chebeskov, director of the Financial Policy Department for the Ministry of Finance in the Russian Federation, said that the nation wants to allow all industries to use cryptocurrencies such as BTC to sell and buy goods on the international level.
The Central Bank is planning to issue its crypto ruble and focus on creating a functional infrastructure to facilitate the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the national economy.
The framework is in place, the nation is steaming ahead to crypto adoption
In September, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance stepped up their joint effort to create a new set of laws that would allow cryptocurrencies to integrate into the Russian monetary system. The digital ruble should enter its pilot stage by the end of the first quarter of 2023. By 2024, the new CBDC should be openly tradable on the national crypto exchange.
Russia is joining multiple countries that also try to avoid international sanctions by using Bitcoin. Just last month, Iran announced that they started paying for some imported goods with cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH. Now, Russia will try to sell its natural resources and buy valuable imports using the same approach.
