Russia’s Finance Ministry to Legalize Cross-Border Crypto Payments

• Russia has agreed to legalize cross-border crypto payments.
• Deputy Finance Minister says crypto needs to be legitimized and regulated first.
• The idea is to get everyone in Russia to have a crypto wallet.

According to a report from a regional news agency called TASS on September 5, the Russian central bank has been reevaluating its strategy for regulating cryptocurrencies and has reached an agreement with the ministry of finance to make it legal for cryptocurrencies to be used in international transactions.

In an interview with the Russia-24 television channel, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said:

As for the regulation of the cryptocurrency market, the difference in approaches has remained. But I can say that the Central Bank has also rethought [the approach], taking into account the fact that the situation has changed, and we are rethinking it.

He added that because the infrastructure that they aim to develop is not flexible enough to accommodate the use of cryptocurrencies in international transactions, which, of course, they must first legitimize in some way.

Moiseev said that the regulatory framework would still need to be implemented, but that on the one hand, individuals should be given the option to do it, and on the other side, it should be controlled so that there is no money laundering, payment for drugs, or anything else of the kind.

“Now people open crypto wallets outside the Russian Federation. It is necessary that this can be done in Russia, that this is done by entities supervised by the Central Bank, which are required to comply with the requirements of anti-money laundering legislation, and first of all, of course, to know their client,” said the leader.

Moreover, Moiseev stated the Ministry of Finance’s suggestion boils down to the idea that everyone should have access to cryptocurrency wallets like those that can now be accessed over the internet.