Russia’s central bank governor talks crypto payments, touts digital ruble expansion

Russian companies are interested in crypto payments in foreign trade deals, the head of Russia’s monetary authority has admitted. The governor also acknowledged that Russian businesses are already trying international settlements with digital assets.

The statements follow reports that Russia and China have been using Bitcoin to settle some of their energy trades. In an annual address in parliament, the governor of the Russian central bank also unveiled plans to significantly expand ongoing trials of Russia’s own digital ruble.

Bank of Russia helping businesses bypass sanctions

Sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation over its invasion of Ukraine have “greatly complicated cross-border payments,” Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Governor Elvira Nabiullina, conceded in a speech at the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament.

Addressing lawmakers during a plenary session devoted to the review of the monetary authority’s annual report for 2024, Nabiullina also indicated that the CBR has been working with Russian businesses to find solutions and claimed to have largely succeeded in that.

War-related financial restrictions have raised costs for companies in Russia, but the governor insisted that “each time we, together with businesses, found ways to solve the problems.” These challenges “did not significantly affect the volumes of imports and exports,” she emphasized.

Nabiullina’s remarks come after a number of reports suggesting Moscow has been employing digital assets, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and the stablecoin Tether (USDT), to circumvent international sanctions in its trade dealings on the global stage.

In March, quoting sources, Reuters alleged that Russia is using crypto to facilitate its oil trading with China and India. This month, the global investment management firm Vaneck also noted that China and Russia had reportedly begun settling some energy transactions in BTC among other digital assets.

CBR head praises lawmakers for legalizing crypto payments

“Alternative channels for settlements with foreign partners are emerging. Thus, businesses are testing the use of digital financial assets, showing interest in settlements in cryptocurrencies within the framework of the experimental legal regime,” Elvira Nabiullina remarked during her speech.

The central bank governor also thanked the members of the State Duma for adopting necessary legislation. In July 2024, the Russian deputies passed a bill allowing companies to use cryptocurrencies in foreign trade. As for private citizens, the bank proposed to permit only “highly qualified” investors to buy and sell crypto.

As the Bank of Russia has been strongly opposed to the free circulation of decentralized digital money in the country, an “experimental legal regime” was established to legalize and facilitate this kind of transactions, including by employing existing exchange infrastructure for crypto trading.

Russia’s central bank seeks expansion of digital ruble trials

At the same time, the Russian monetary authority has been a strong supporter of its own “digital ruble” project. Russia’s central bank digital currency has been under development for some time and now the CBR management wants to scale up the trials.

“We are preparing for a large-scale development of the experiment on the digital ruble. We plan that by the end of this year it will cover up to several tens of thousands of people, and then it will expand further,” Nabiullina told Russian lawmakers.

According to recent reports by local crypto media, the central bank has decided to postpone the launch of the Russian CBDC until 2026. Earlier, the regulator had indicated it would finalize the digital ruble as early as this year but later its representatives made it clear they are not going to rush the project.

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