On Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin officially instructed the government to come to a consensus regarding crypto regulation and set rules for cross-border crypto payments in Russia by December.
The prime minister called on the Duma and other state authorities to create coordinated policies to regulate the issuance and circulation of digital currencies in Russia. He also asked regulators to finalize on the regulations for cross-border transactions in digital currencies and cryptocurrency mining.
The official stressed that the upcoming draft of crypto regulations should be aligned with the anti-money laundering authority Rosfinmonitoring, Federal Tax Service, Russian Finance Ministry, Central Bank, and Federal Security Service.
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The latest advancement confirms that Russia has been getting increasingly serious about the possibility of using cryptocurrencies for cross-border transactions.
Last week, Alexei Moiseev, Deputy Finance Minister, reported that the Bank of Russia is in consensus with the finance ministry to legalize cryptocurrency for cross-border payments. Despite its decision to authorize cross-border transactions, the Russian central bank still opposed the legalization of local crypto exchanges and legalizing cryptocurrency as a means of payment.
According to Maria Agranovskaya, a fintech expert in the Russian State of Duma, Russia might be the first country to authorize cross-border crypto payments while banning local crypto payments simultaneously. He added that this is not a common approach.
