Speaking in an interview on Russia 24 TV channel, Russian Deputy Minister of Finance Alexei Moiseev said both the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Russia are re-evaluating their approach to crypto regulation. Russian news outlet TASS reported that the minister said regulation to legalize cryptocurrencies will be introduced soon.

With Russia slapped with Western sanctions, they are looking to conduct trade in non-US dollar currencies. The government believes making cryptocurrency transactions legal is an important step in their plan to build a non-US dollar infrastructure to circumvent sanctions.

Given current market conditions “It (trading in other currencies) is impossible to do without cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency,” --- Russian Deputy Minister of Finance Alexei Moiseev.

Back in February, Russia announced they will draft legislation to recognize cryptocurrency as an “analogue of currencies.” That announcement come a month after the central bank said it was considering a ban on crypto due to financial stability concerns. In April, Binance moved to limit its services to Russian nationals following EU sanctions.

Moiseev recognized the need to balance the legalization of crypto while maintaining tight control on the use of crypto for illegal uses, saying:

“The infrastructure that we plan to create is too rigid for the use of cryptocurrencies in cross-border settlements, which, of course, we must first of all legalize somehow. On the one hand, give people the opportunity to do it, on the other hand, put it under control so that there is no laundering, paying for drugs, and so on," Moiseev said.