Russia’s trade ministry has announced the development of a new tool aimed at assisting cryptocurrency miners in evading Western sanctions. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has created a solution that facilitates industrial mining activities and enables Russian businesses to make cross-border transactions. Anton Tkachev, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies, and Communications, shared details about this tool in an interview.
The Potential of Crypto for Evading Sanctions
Tkachev believes that cryptocurrency could play a crucial role in helping Russian firms bypass Western sanctions when conducting international trade. Transactions made using cryptocurrency are more challenging for Western adversaries to track. However, Tkachev also mentioned that the circulation of cryptocurrency within Russia might face restrictions. Despite this limitation, he stated that cryptoassets could be an excellent payment tool for international transactions between different nations.
“The future of cryptocurrency will be limited and conditional in Russia.”
Russian lawmakers aim to regulate the cryptocurrency market by establishing a specialized banking organization supervised by the Central Bank. This organization will be responsible for overseeing crypto deals and ensuring compliance. It is worth noting that the Central Bank and its Governor Elvira Nabiullina have historically expressed reservations about crypto adoption. However, there has been a shift in their stance, particularly regarding industrial mining and crypto-powered international trade.
“We want to create a specialized banking organization under the supervision of the Central Bank to regulate the cryptocurrency market.”
Despite the increasing adoption of crypto mining in Russia, authorities are considering banning private citizens from engaging in mining activities while allowing industrial miners to continue. Many lawmakers argue that fast-tracking mining legislation and imposing taxes on industrial miners is essential to generate significant revenue for the Treasury. However, there has been a delay in passing such legislation, with the Central Bank hesitant to give more progressive groups like the Ministry of Finance more influence.
“Failure to legalize the mining sector and implement taxation measures is resulting in significant financial losses for the Treasury.”
