Russia is considering alternative payment methods including Bitcoin in a bid to attract more buyers for its oil.
The global sanction placed on Russia has made it difficult for the country to find buyers for its oil. This is partly because the global oil market is dominated by the US dollar.
Pavel Zavalny, the head of the State Duma’s committee on energy briefed the public on the likely moves.
“We have been proposing to China for a long time to switch to settlements in national currencies for rubles and yuan. With Turkey, it will be lira and rubles. You can also trade bitcoins,” Zavalny explained.
While Bitcoin could be used to bypass the international sanctions and attract more buyers, it also has its consequences which could in turn affect the damaged Russian economy.
“Clearly, accepting Bitcoin, compared with other traditional currencies, introduces considerably more risk in the trade of natural gas. Moreover, one of the major ‘friendly’ trade partners for Russia is China, and cryptocurrency is banned for use in China,” David Broadstock, a senior research fellow at the Energy Studies Institute in Singapore said.