Russia is preparing to begin trials for cryptocurrency exchanges and digital token payments starting September 1, according to a report by Bloomberg. These trials aim to address payment challenges faced by Russian companies due to international sanctions. The trials will comprise the National Payment Card System, which was introduced by the central bank in 2014 to manage domestic interbank and Mir card payments.
It is also important to state that the trials themselves are centered mainly around the operations with cryptocurrencies for their conversion to rubles and further testing of the payment and exchange platforms. If these trials are successful, they may open the possibilities for creating cryptocurrency trading platforms in Russia. The Moscow Exchange and St. Petersburg Currency Exchange might be allowed to establish such platforms as early as next year.
Russia Considers Broadening Cryptocurrency Use in Wake of U.S. Sanctions
This comes in the wake of the recent law passed by the Russian parliament in July this year legalizing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for mining and creating a legal framework under which the country can experiment with digital tokens for international transactions under the watchful eye of the central bank. All these bills were approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 8.
The decision to find better cryptocurrencies is best made in a situation where Russian companies have more trouble with international payments thanks to increasing American sanctions. On August 14, the Minister of Finance of Russia Anton Siluanov said that the government is currently trying to find a strategy for the legalization of exchanges with cryptocurrencies, but it has not yet been decided.
The insiders have said that any cryptocurrency could be utilized in the trials if it exists. If the trials are considered successful, it could drastically change the approach to Russia IS’s international payments reducing the consequences of sanctions and opening up new opportunities for transactions.
These trials could also shape Russia’s cryptocurrency usage and possibly set the trend for other nations facing such concerns.
