Bank of Russia allows international cryptocurrency settlements

The Bank of Russia has softened its stance on cryptocurrencies — regulators no longer object to their use “in international transactions and international financial infrastructure”. This was stated by the Bank’s first deputy chairman, Ksenia Yudaeva, reports «Ъ».

It still maintains that using digital currencies domestically poses significant risks for citizens.

Recently, the Finance Ministry stated that cryptocurrencies could potentially be used by Russia in international settlements. This question has been studied in the context of sanctions imposed on Russia, said Ivan Chebeskov, head of the department of financial policy of the ministry.

Later it became known that the Ministry of Finance refined the draft bill on cryptocurrency regulation, including a provision allowing the use of digital currencies as a means of payment in the foreign-trade activities of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

Earlier, the Bank of Russia had taken a radical prohibitive stance toward Bitcoin. It proposed to restrict the issuance, circulation and exchange of cryptocurrencies, as well as the organisation of such operations on the territory of the Russian Federation. In March, the Bank of Russia advocated a complete ban on the circulation and mining of digital currencies.

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