TechFlow news, on March 14, according to Jinshi News, four sources revealed that Russia is using cryptocurrencies in its oil trade to circumvent Western sanctions, particularly in transactions with India.
The sources said some Russian oil companies are using Bitcoin, Ether, and stablecoins such as Tether to facilitate the conversion of Indian rupees into Russian rubles. They added that although such cryptocurrency transactions make up a small portion of Russia's total oil trade—worth $192 billion last year, according to the International Energy Agency—the practice is on an upward trend.
While Russia has publicly encouraged the use of cryptocurrencies and passed a law last summer allowing payments in digital currencies for international trade, there had previously been no reports of their use in oil transactions. This approach resembles strategies adopted by U.S.-sanctioned countries like Iran and Venezuela, which have also used cryptocurrencies to bypass the U.S. dollar-based settlement system and sustain their economies.
