Russia’s financial regulators agrees on crypto use for international payments

Russia’s deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev has said that the country’s apex bank and the finance ministry reached an agreement that would allow the use of cryptocurrency for international payments, Russia-based Kommersant reported on Sept. 22.

According to the report, the new development is geared toward allowing Russians access to digital wallets.

Moiseev reportedly said:

“We have a bill in this part already agreed with the Central Bank on the whole … It 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.”

Previously, the Bank of Russia had extensively opposed crypto use. However, with the country facing several sanctions from western authorities, the country’s Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, opined that the financial system might have to adjust to the new economic reality.

Moiseev shared the same view, adding 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.”

Mishustin directed the financial regulators to develop an agreeable regulation for crypto by Dec. 19.

Meanwhile, Russia’s relationship with crypto remains hazy as President Vladimir Putin signed a law on July 14 that banned using cryptocurrencies as a local means of payment.