Elvira Nabiullina, head of the Central Bank of Russia, stated that they will be able to make some international payments with cryptocurrencies by the end of the year. Speaking to the news agency Reuters, Nabuillina stated that he expects the lower house of Parliament to approve the relevant law today.

They embraced crypto with the war

There was a serious opposition to cryptocurrency in Russia until the Ukrainian war that started in 2022. Especially the head of the central bank, Nabiullina, had many statements in the past that cryptocurrencies should be banned.

However, the Ukrainian war and the West’s seizure of Russia’s assets and the imposition of heavy financial sanctions made the country re-evaluate its perspective on cryptocurrencies.

While it is noteworthy that President Putin has also made some positive statements about cryptocurrencies and even Bitcoin, Russian officials have also changed their negative outlook.

Recently, large Russian companies have also been facing serious difficulties in making international payments under heavy Western sanctions. Russia was also excluded from the SWIFT system under these sanctions.

Despite all this, Europe’s continued purchases of natural gas from Russia stands in stark contrast.