Russia plans to permit foreign crypto mining

Russia’s central bank intends to permit the creation of crypto mining organizations outside of the country, Russian news site TASS said on April 17.

Elvira Nabiullina, head of the Bank of Russia, said that Russian entities will be allowed to establish special authorized organizations for cryptocurrency mining.

However, the scope of permitted activities is still under development. The new rules will initially allow companies with state ties to engage in mining. Private companies may be allowed to participate at a later date, officials say.

Nabiullina also said that Russian entities will be permitted to perform crypto settlements outside of the country. He suggested the mining policy is directly related:

“We adhere to the same position that within the country, cryptocurrency … should not be used, [but] for external settlements, we assume that this is possible in the form of an experiment.”

As such, the new mining and settlement laws will be part of an “experimental legal regime.”

Reports from September 2022 previously suggested that Russian entities may be permitted to use cryptocurrency for international payments. Those plans became official when the Bank of Russia announced testing plans months later in December 2022.

Russia has restricted the use of cryptocurrency within its borders since President Vladimir Putin signed a law to that effect in July 2022. Though Russia is moving toward permitting foreign crypto transactions with foreign entities, activity remains highly restricted.