If there is one country where cryptocurrencies regulations have often been turned upside down, it is Russia. At first, crypto was very popular because of the high level of corruption in the country. But later, the central bank stated that crypto should be banned, which was again contradicted by the Ministry of Finance. Now a Russian minister says that payments in crypto will eventually also be legal.
Crypto payments should also become legal
That writes TASS, a state-owned Russian media company. Denis Manturov, the Minister of Industry and Trade, was at the New Horizon conference. That seems like a Indian meeting to be. Manturov thinks that not only cryptocurrencies themselves, but also crypto payments will be legal.
†The question is when this will happen, how it will happen and how it will be regulated. Both the government and the central bank are now involved. Everyone should be aware that this may take a while, but sooner or later it will be implemented,” he explains. He does add that even the government must implement this correctly and within the rules.
Russia less strict with itself?
It’s a special note, because that would mean the government would become less strict about protecting its own fiat currency, the Russian ruble. A while back, ‘enemy countries’, including Europe, had to pay for their oil and gas in rubles instead of euros. That caused a rapid appreciation, and the ruble is now worth even more than it was before the sanctions. At the time of writing, the ruble has already risen more than 140% against the euro. That almost never happens in traditional currency markets.
Apparently, the Russian government is therefore interested in not only making the buying, selling and holding of cryptocurrencies legal, but also to let people pay in crypto. It is not clear whether this refers to the domestic market. Trading with other countries using cryptocurrencies rather than fiat currencies may also be on the agenda.