Russia to pilot crypto trading platform

On August 27, according to foreign media reports, as the birthplace of anti-crypto legislation, Russia is about to start a pilot for cryptocurrency trading and cross-border digital token payments to help ease the payment difficulties of Russian companies hit by international sanctions.

Anonymous sources revealed that Russia will launch the trial as early as September 1. They said that when testing payment and trading platforms, Russia will use the national payment card system to exchange between rubles and cryptocurrencies. The network was chosen because it has existing functions such as interbank settlement and clearing, and is fully regulated by the central bank.

If successful, the trial may eventually provide Russia with another payment method for cross-border transactions. Payment problems have made it difficult for Russians to buy foreign materials and made it difficult for exporters to obtain compensation.

In June this year, when new US sanctions began to target foreign lenders friendly to Russia, Russian companies faced even more severe payment problems. The threat of secondary sanctions has forced many institutions to cut ties with Russia, given its reliance on the dollar.

For example, most Chinese banks have stopped paying Russians in yuan, despite the important role the yuan plays in Russia's economy today. At the same time, Russia cannot rely on Western currencies such as the dollar because it is excluded from the SWIFT international banking system.

Russia's potential further embrace of digital currencies is a major reversal of its usual attitude: Russia has been opposed to cryptocurrencies for years and proposed a complete ban on cryptocurrencies in 2022. Although cryptocurrencies are used for international payments in Russia, their use within the country remains restricted.

The legislative turn came on August 8, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the legalization of the creation of a cross-border cryptocurrency framework. In addition, he signed a bill allowing cryptocurrency mining in the country.

Sources said Russia may finally allow the Moscow Exchange and the St. Petersburg Currency Exchange to create cryptocurrency trading platforms next year. As for traditional cryptocurrency exchanges, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov admitted that this looks unlikely.

TASS quoted him as saying at a forum on August 14: "We have not yet found a solution on how to solve this problem."

Source: Jinshi Data