Russia uses bitcoin for foreign trade: “To counter Western sanctions”

The international sanctions have greatly complicated Russia’s trade with important partners such as China and Turkey. Local banks are extremely cautious with all transactions involving Russia to avoid scrutiny by Western regulators. This year, Russia allowed the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and took steps to make it legal to “mine” cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Russia is one of the world leaders in this field.

“It is possible to use bitcoins, which we have mined here in Russia, for foreign trade transactions,” Siluanov told television channel Russia 24. “Such transactions are already taking place. We believe they need to be further expanded and developed. I am confident that this will happen next year,” he said, adding that international payments in digital currencies represent the future.

“It is possible to use bitcoins, which we have mined here in Russia, for foreign trade transactions”

Anton Siluanov

Russian Minister of Finance

Political purposes

Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said the current US administration is undermining the US dollar’s role as a reserve currency by using it for political purposes. As a result, many countries are forced to resort to alternative currencies, it said.

Putin cited bitcoin as an example of such assets and said no one in the world could regulate bitcoin. Putin’s comments indicated that the Russian leader supports the expanded use of cryptocurrencies.