The Bank of Russia has announced that it will support accelerating the adoption of cryptocurrency payments for international settlements. According to Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, these crypto-based payments must be launched in a sandbox-style experimental regime. In contrast, payments with national digital assets will be launched without similar precautions.
Bank of Russia Supports Establishing Cryptocurrency Sandbox for International Settlements
Russia supports expanding the number of currencies and payment methods for international settlements. Last week, Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, stated that the bank would support accelerating the enactment of a bill supporting cryptocurrency payments for international payments. However, Nabiullina stressed that these payments should be introduced into an experimental sandbox-style legal regime.
The institution has been opposed to the circulation and use of crypto for national payments, given that these assets are not under the control of national regulators. However, the bank is open to its use for foreign settlements.
In contrast, using national digital assets, also known as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), for these payments is already being explored without any exploratory sandbox. First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Olga Skorobogatova detailed:
We’ve already received three applications from businesses interested in trying this.
On March 11, President Vladimir Putin enacted a law that regulated this use case for CBDCs, giving the Bank of Russia oversight over these exchanges. This movement was preceded by statements from key Russian officials hinting at the possible development of a blockchain-based payment system for BRICS, the international bloc chaired by Russia and composed of Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia.
On March 27, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov declared that he would meet with officials from the central bank to decide the scope of what could and could not be done with cryptocurrency in the country.
Source: Bitcoin
