According to a report by local media company Izvestia, Russia may start accepting bitcoin and some cryptocurrencies as payment for international trade in 2023.
The announcement of a timeline for the use of an alternative payment method for cross-border payments comes a week after the Russian Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance agreed.
Ivan Chebeskov, director of the financial stability market for the Russian Ministry of Finance, was cited as the source of the timeline in the Izvestia report, which was reportedly confirmed by Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma committee—Russia’s legislative governing body.
“We have several legislative initiatives that we are working on in working order, but which have not yet been formally presented to the government,” Chebskov said.
According to Chebeskov, Russia will enable businesses to choose whether they want to use bitcoin or certain cryptocurrencies permitted by the state. The operation of this process is expected to be facilitated by the Moscow and St. Petersburg stock exchanges.
“Therefore, there can be different options for how” [international payments] can be implemented,” Chebeskov explained.
Chebyskov noted his confidence in the government’s approval as there is growing support among legislators hoping to approve the process of using digital assets for international trade.
“In addition, I know that there are representatives in the State Duma who are actively engaged in this topic, perhaps it will be their initiative,” Chebskov said. “There are like-minded people in this direction.”
Similarly, the Energy Minister said in the report that the use of digital assets can help ease the pressure of sanctions by allowing small and medium-sized businesses to transact internationally.
Daniil Egorov, the head of the Federal Tax Service, assured that talks about taxation for the process of international trade with bitcoin are also being discussed.
“After consultation with the Central Bank, this decision will be taken,” Egorov said.
According to the report, there is also an inter-departmental debate on whether bitcoin and some cryptocurrencies should be classified as assets. This designation will also affect the way these transactions are taxed.
In fact, Russia has dwindled and flown from lockstep to contemptuous discussions about bitcoin and its use for international payments. At one point the Bank of Russia was discussing the ban, which led Russian President Vladimir Putin to announce his support for bitcoin mining.
Then, earlier this year a bill addressing the regulation of digital assets was proposed by the Russian government, followed by a proposal from the Ministry of Finance.