Rosbank is the first major Russian bank to give customers the option to pay for international transactions using cryptocurrencies. The solution, which was provided in conjunction with a Russian fintech, is primarily intended to meet the requirements of businesses that collaborate with partners from other countries.
Rosbank, one of Russia's systemically important banks, is launching a solution for cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency, according to the business daily Vedomosti. Russian companies will be able to pay suppliers in cryptocurrency through Rosbank. A representative of the financial institution claims that it is currently piloting transactions with private and business customers.
The bank keeps up with the fact that the help, which is the first of its kind in the area, is in accordance with current Russian regulation and the prerequisites of the National Bank of Russia (CBR). The latter has been open to allowing the use of cryptocurrencies in cross-border transactions so long as they are conducted outside of the Russian financial infrastructure, despite its continued opposition to the country's free circulation of cryptocurrencies.
The "On Digital Financial Assets" law prohibits residents of Russia from accepting digital currencies as payment for goods and services. However, lawmakers in the State Duma are considering amendments that would include cryptocurrencies in the legal framework and make crypto transactions legal under "experimental legal regimes."
The fintech platform B-crypto, which specializes in processing digital currency cross-border settlements, provides support for Rosbank's new service. At the point when a Russian organization decides to pay an unfamiliar partner with digital money, this should be reflected in their agreement, and the receipt given by the provider should show a wallet address and the crypto sum. While B-crypto is in charge of converting cryptocurrencies and processing payments, Rosbank accepts deposits made in fiat.
The Russian government and businesses have been looking into ways to circumvent financial restrictions imposed by the West, including expanding the use of national currencies and cryptocurrencies, in light of unprecedented Western sanctions regarding the invasion of Ukraine.
President Putin was recently urged to help legalize crypto settlements in international trade by a group that represents Russian businesses. Prior, authorities in Moscow conceded that Russian organizations are now utilizing crypto in cross-line installments in spite of the absence of thorough guidelines.
(Lubomir Tassev, Bitcoin News, 2023)