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Russia leans on cryptocurrencies for oil trade, sources say
Russia is using cryptocurrencies in oil trade with China and India to evade Western sanctions, according to Reuters' report citing unnamed sources.
The Russian Central Bank has softened its stance on cryptocurrencies and launched an experimental legal framework for trading them, but it does not recognize them as legal tender, as reported.
Intermediary trading firms convert payments made in yuan or rupees into Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Tether, which are then exchanged for rubles in Russia, as revealed by sources.
Despite the small scale of cryptocurrency transactions in Russia's $192 billion annual oil trade, usage is rising, and experts anticipate continued reliance on digital currencies even if sanctions are lifted, according to the report.