Russia has been looking into the feasibility of making international transactions using several digital assets. The country is currently seeking avenues to evade sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine at the beginning of the year. According to a recent update by a news outlet out of Moscow, the finance department led by Ivan Chebeskov has been doing research into digital assets. One of the main focal points of the study is how to leverage digital assets to make transactions across the country’s borders.
Western sanctions biting hard on Russia
The country is also looking to revamp its previous crypto law to integrate the latest update. The new update will give users of digital assets across Russia a free hand to carry out transactions inside and outside the country. This means that the government will have no other choice but to establish a legal framework for crypto transactions. The finance minister has been one of the few parties championing the course of approving crypto in the country over the last few months. Last month, the minister announced that he was backing the bill to see digital assets legalized for use across the country.
SDN listing puts the country in a tight spot
The top executives at the central bank of Russia have also been having a rethink their hard stance against digital assets. In a recent statement, the bank looks to have softened that stance with this moment providing the best shot at legalizing and regulating the assets. According to an executive of the bank, there have been looking into crypto to soften the harsh sanctions that have been meted out against them since the invasion started. However, there is no direction as to how Russia intends to attack the biting sanctions using digital assets.
This is because the crypto market is tiny compared to the transaction needs of Russia at this period. One important reason it will not work was a previous ban by the US on exchanges offering services to individuals or companies on the SDN list. The SDN list comprises individuals and companies that have committed crimes over the years. This means that no matter the exchange that the country plans to use, most of them have a branch in the US. They will not want to risk sanctions or jail terms by violating Russia’s order and working with it.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/russia-research-crypto-for-int-transactions/