Russia Developing Sandbox for Cross-border Crypto Payments – The Russian Export Center (REC), a state-run institution entrusted with assisting Russia’s exports, is now contemplating the use of digital currencies as an alternative to international settlements in the face of sanctions.
Setting up a “cross-border digital sandbox,” according to the organization, is a promising initiative. Fintech companies will be able to execute payments using digital financial instruments on behalf of Russian exporters and importers as part of the project.
Cryptocurrency settlements are an alternative payment mechanism that, according to the REC’s Veronika Nikishina, will develop tremendously quickly in the near future.
She elaborated at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum:
“We are presently studying the prospect of establishing a digital sandbox to pilot the usage of cryptocurrencies in cross-border payments as a development institution that captures all current trends.”
According to Tass, Nikishina noted that the institute has already attracted representatives from fintech firms and regulatory organizations and is working closely with the Russian Central Bank as well as Rosfinmonitoring, the country’s financial watchdog. It would be impossible to build all layers of crypto payments without these participants, according to the official.
The REC’s director underlined the significance of creating a sandbox “in order to uncover all conceivable regulatory and technological risks.” Veronika Nikishina believes that in the future, this will enable such payments to be made quickly and securely.
The initiative comes after the Bank of Russia, a staunch opponent of cryptocurrency legality in Russia, modified its stance on crypto payments in international commercial dealings in the wake of mounting Western sanctions on Russia’s finances imposed in response to its military invasion of Ukraine.
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As authorities prepare to adopt extensive crypto rules, the majority of Russian institutions agree that the ruble should remain the only legal tender within Russia. Members of the State Duma, parliament’s lower house, passed a draft law prohibiting the use of cryptocurrency as a form of payment earlier this week, but left the door open for exceptions envisaged in other federal laws.
