cryptocurrencies have become increasingly used in cross-border transactions – Kommersant

Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies have become increasingly used in foreign economic activity and for cross-border payments. This was announced by Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Olga Polyakova at the “Cybersecurity in Finance” forum.

“We, of course, see that cryptocurrencies as high-risk investment instruments for cross-border household and foreign economic payments are now used more often than two or three years ago. However, their share in the entire legal Russian financial market is still small,” said Olga Polyakova (quoted from “Interfax”). According to her, there is a request from exporters and importers under sanctions to find ways to make cross-border payments. “And we do not refuse, so to speak, the opportunity to consider this issue,” noted Mrs. Polyakova.

The Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank also recalled that at the end of 2022, the Central Bank, together with the Ministry of Finance, prepared a bill allowing the use of cryptocurrencies for foreign economic activity in an experimental legal regime. However, as Vadim Kulik, Deputy Chairman of the Board of VTB, noted during the forum, there is not yet a single country that has allowed settlements in cryptocurrencies as part of its currency regulation.

At the end of 2022, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin instructed the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, Rosfinmonitoring, as well as the Federal Tax Service and the FSB to develop a scheme for using cryptocurrency in international payments. In April 2023, a bill on experimental legal regimes was introduced to the State Duma. It was assumed that the Central Bank would test the use of cryptocurrency and digital financial assets in international payments within the framework of foreign economic activity. However, the bill did not reach the first reading in the State Duma.

“Nevertheless, there is a draft law, we’ll see, if we really come to the conclusion that we still need to move forward with its approval, if we manage to start this process, we’ll experiment,” noted Olga Polyakova.

What are the experts’ forecasts regarding cryptocurrency – in the Kommersant publication “Bitcoin is set for growth”.

Anastasia Larina