Russia Wants to Use Stablecoins to Bypass Western Sanctions CryptoBlog

Russia is advancing its crypto strategy to circumvent Western sanctions.

Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseyev said today that the country is exploring stablecoins to make payments with “friendly countries”. according to the Russian State News Agency Cup.

The country’s biggest news agency quoted Moiseyev as saying that Russia is working to “create bilateral platforms” with “token instruments” to avoid using US dollars and euros.

Stable Coins are a type of cryptocurrency pegged to another asset, such as dollars or gold. They are designed to be stable, unlike Bitcoin or other digital assets that are notoriously volatile. The main stablecoins in the crypto market are issued by centralized companies, such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.

These coins are typically used by crypto traders to quickly enter and exit positions in other coins or tokens without the need to convert to fiat currency, such as US dollars, or when access to dollars is restricted or prohibited.

“We are currently working with a number of countries to create bilateral platforms so as not to use dollars and euros,” Moiseyev said. “Stablecoins can be pegged to a generally recognized instrument, for example gold, whose value is clear and observable to all participants,” he added.

Tuesday’s statement did not specify what the “token instruments” would be attached to.

Cup added that the Ministry of Finance hopes to resolve issues with cross-border cryptocurrency payments this fall semester.

The West heavily sanctioned Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February. Its access to the dollar and euro markets is now limited and it is hit the country’s economy hard.

Russia has been talking about using crypto for years, although the Russian government’s stance on digital currency is mixed. In 2019, the government would have began to investigate Bitcoin as a way to circumvent US sanctions.

And in January, President Vladimir Putin said Russia may well be mining the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. But in July, Putin sign a law prohibiting Russian citizens from using digital assets to make payments.