The Russian Central Bank prefers cryptocurrency for international trade rather than personal use

“We still believe that the active use of cryptocurrency within the country, especially within Russia’s financial infrastructure, creates great risks for citizens and users. We believe that in our country those risks could be reasonably large.”

Yudaeva also stated that the overall risks to Russian financial stability as a result of Western sanctions had decreased because banks now had enough foreign currency liquidity.

The Russian central bank has previously urged for a blanket ban on cryptocurrency, but it sees no problem with using cryptocurrencies to avoid sanctions. As the lengthy debates continue, no clear decision has been made about the status of the asset class for ordinary Russians.

The finance ministry stated last week that the use of cryptocurrency for foreign settlement transactions is being intensively considered.

Signals that conflict

Earlier this month, Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister, Denis Manturov, noted that authorities may eventually legalize crypto payments within the country “in some format or other.”

Russia is hardly the only country sending contradictory signals on digital assets. Some state departments in India and Thailand are likewise open to crypto payments and laws. However, their central banks also desire to place severe limits on them, mostly for the reasons stated above.