Rosbank Makes History with First Russian Cross-Border Crypto Payments
Rosbank is a Russian bank that is banned by the US. It has made history by becoming the first Russian bank to offer a way to pay with cryptocurrency across borders. Russian companies must go through the KYC processes of both Rosbank and B-crypto to use this service to pay in cryptocurrencies.
B-crypto Facilitates Technical Side of Cross-Border Crypto Payments
B-crypto, a Russian financial service that specializes in making foreign payments with digital currencies, helps with the technical side of cryptocurrency payments. To start a trade, the importer must agree with the seller to be able to pay in cryptocurrency and give the cryptocurrency wallet address of the recipient. The seller then sends the Russian company a statement that says the payment should be made in cryptocurrency and gives the wallet address.
After that, the buyer and B-crypto sign a contract. The customer then adds cash to their Rosbank account to buy the needed coin and applies. The bank sends the money to B-crypto, which buys the cryptocurrency from friendly countries. B-crypto then sends the cryptocurrency to the foreign provider.
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Vedomosti asked the top 50 Russian banks if they offered similar services, but none of them said they did. Alexei Voilukov, Vice President of the Association of Banks of Russia, says that cross-border crypto payments are mostly handled by smaller banks and that bigger credit institutions have not yet started to offer these services. Voilukov said that the big banks don’t have enough cash on hand to handle cryptocurrency transactions for big clients.
State Duma Considers Legalizing Bitcoin Mining
Cross-border cryptocurrency purchases, like the ones launched by Rosbank, may worry countries with which Russia isn’t on good terms about the possibility of sanctions being broken. Eduard Davydov, a senior partner at the Emet Law Firm, said that many countries are putting sanctions on crypto trades. Using cryptocurrencies to get around penalties could be seen as illegal, and the people involved could face legal implications.
Vladimir Chistiuchin, who is the First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said that cryptocurrencies won’t be a one-size-fits-all answer for international payments, but that all possible ways to settle with foreign partners should be looked into.
At the moment, the State Duma is thinking about a plan that would legalize Bitcoin mining and try out new legal frameworks. Once it is accepted, the central bank plans to test cross-border payments made with cryptocurrencies mined by groups that have been cleared.
