Bank of Russia agrees to legalize crypto for cross-border payments: Report

Historically opposed to the idea of ​​using crypto as a payment method, the Bank of Russia reportedly agreed to allow cross-border payments in crypto due to geopolitical changes.

The Bank of Russia, the country's central bank, has reportedly admitted that cross-border crypto payments are unavoidable under current geopolitical conditions.

Russia's central bank has revamped its approach to crypto regulation and agreed with the Ministry of Finance to legalize crypto for cross-border payments, local news agency TASS reported on Monday.

Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev has reportedly said that the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance plan to legitimize cross-border crypto payments soon.

Moiseev stressed the importance of activating local crypto services in Russia, noting that many Russians rely on foreign platforms to open a crypto wallet. "There is a need to do this in Russia, involving central bank-supervised entities, which are required to comply with anti-money laundering and know-your-customer requirements," the official said. p>

Russian lawmakers have always been opposed to the idea of ​​using cryptocurrencies as a method of payment. In 2020, Russia passed an important cryptography law, “On Digital Financial Assets”, which officially banned the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) for payment purposes. The Bank of Russia was skeptical of the idea of ​​cryptocurrency payments, as it wanted to protect the Russian ruble as the only legal tender in the country.

The idea of ​​crypto payments for domestic exchanges in Russia surfaced in late 2021. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was "still premature" to