Russian financial authorities have begun working on a mechanism to facilitate the adoption of cryptocurrencies for payments with other countries amid sanctions. The country’s central bank and finance ministry have already agreed on a draft law regulating cross-border crypto payments.
Russian regulators are moving toward legalizing the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade
Russian authorities intend to regulate the issuance, distribution, and various operations of digital assets, including international crypto payments, by the end of 2022. The Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Russia, and the Rosfinmonitoring agency have undertaken this task, the financial watchdog told the daily Izvestia.
“The activities of organizations engaged in exchange operations with digital currencies, their transfer and storage, and providers of virtual asset services should be subject to regulation, including registration or licensing of such persons and their supervision,” Rosfinmonitoring explained, adding that its responsibilities also include anti-money laundering He added that it should also include anti-money laundering.
The current version of the bill “On Digital Currency,” submitted by the Ministry of Finance earlier this year and revised with input from other authorities, provides for the establishment of a domestic infrastructure for crypto asset trading. Currently, Russian regulators are focusing on settlement mechanisms for cryptocurrency payments in foreign trade.
Ministry of Finance and Central Bank Agree on Law Allowing Cross-Border Crypto Payments
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This week, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev The agreement was signed by the Ministry and the Bank of Russia on a new law authorizing international payments in cryptocurrencies.
In early September, the two agencies concluded that Russia “cannot do without cross-border crypto payments” amid tightening sanctions, a government official said, as quoted by RIA Novosti news agency and business daily Kommersant.
Now we already have a bill agreed with the central bank. It is generally explained in how to get cryptocurrency, what you can do with it, how it can or cannot be used, cross-border payments in the first place.
At the same time, Moiseev admitted that the issue of “entering and exiting Fiat” remains unresolved, according to RBC Crypto’s report. Experts then need to determine the minimum infrastructure Russia needs to create to be able to implement such cryptocurrency payments.
The Ministry of Finance and monetary authorities also agreed on a draft law on crypto-mining, which defines the activity as legal. The deputy minister noted that the issue of whether miners should credit minted digital coins to wallets in the Russian Federation or abroad has so far been decided in favor of the second option.
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