Russia’s central bank urges lawmakers to hasten crypto bill amid US sanctions

As sanctions bite, Bank of Russia’s Nabiullina calls for faster adoption of crypto laws that would enable international transactions in crypto and digital financial assets.

Russian central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina has urged Russian lawmakers to fasten the approval of a bill that would enable the country to carry out international transactions in crypto, according to a report from TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency.

While the head of the Bank of Russia reiterated the central bank’s opposition to crypto legalization within the country, she emphasized during a session at the State Duma the urge for mechanisms facilitating international transactions in cryptocurrencies and digital financial assets, Russia’s equivalent of tokenized financial instruments on a distributed ledger.

“We support the use of cryptocurrencies for international transactions. However, we still do not support the circulation of cryptocurrencies within the country.”

Elvira Nabiullina

Furthermore, Olga Skorobogatova, the first deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, disclosed that the central bank had received three inquiries from businesses regarding the potential use of digital financial assets in international economic transactions, although their names were not disclosed.

The call for faster bill approval comes at a time when the U.S. Treasury Department is actively seeking to expand its sanctions capabilities to address the escalating misuse of crypto by countries such as Iran, Russia, and North Korea. As crypto.news reported earlier, Deputy Secretary Adewale Adeyemo highlighted in written testimony before the Senate that terrorist organizations and other illicit actors are actively seeking “new ways to move their resources” in response to efforts aimed at restricting their access to traditional financial systems.