Russia is close to testing cryptocurrency and token exchanges and their use in cross-border transactions, to help ease payment difficulties for domestic businesses hit by international sanctions.

The trials will begin on Sept. 1, said two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Russia will use the national payment card system to exchange rubles for cryptocurrencies, they said, when testing payments and an exchange platform.

In July, parliament passed bills legalizing cryptocurrency mining and a framework that would allow testing cryptocurrency tokens for cross-border payments under the supervision of the central bank. President Vladimir Putin signed the bills into law on 8/8.

The experiment comes as Russian companies face increasing obstacles in paying suppliers abroad and getting paid for exported goods.

The authorities’ shifting stance:

In January 2022, just weeks before Russia’s war in Ukraine, the central bank proposed a blanket ban on the use and creation of cryptocurrencies.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on 14/8 that authorities were looking at ways to legalize cryptocurrency exchanges,