Russia’s foreign trade settlements with cryptocurrency approached $12 billion in the first half of the year, according to the Kremlin’s business advisor.
The Russian president’s representative is convinced that cryptocurrencies are catching up with gold in terms of stability and are no longer a niche phenomenon.
Kremlin official compares cryptocurrency to gold
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have ceased to be a niche asset and have already become as stable as gold, said Boris Titov, Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs’ Rights under the President of the Russian Federation.
Quoted by the Gazeta.ru website, Titov highlighted that the crypto market’s capitalization has reached $4 trillion, noting this is bigger than the economies of several European countries.
He also pointed out that 650 million people around the world now have crypto holdings. The arrival of institutional investors has changed the very nature of the market, he added, with disciplined strategies supplanting retail speculation.
Speaking at the Crypto Summit 2025 forum, held in Moscow this week, Titov stated:
“Volatility is declining, so are excess returns. But the confidence of millions of investors is growing.”
The Kremlin official believes the trend is also linked to the symbiosis between cryptocurrency mining and computing services for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and big data processing.
Coin minting facilities, often idle during crypto market downturns, are now increasingly being used for other complex calculations, Titov explained.
“Mining has already created a large-scale infrastructure that can be repurposed for AI tasks,” he elaborated, reminding that this market is projected to grow to $100 billion by 2030.
Russia’s crypto-facilitated trade reached 1 trillion rubles in 2025
In his address, Boris Titov recalled that only a decade ago, central banks considered cryptocurrencies an illegal and speculative instrument. But today, they are recognized as a promising segment that simply needs regulation.
In his view, Russia has taken a strategically correct stance in that regard by adopting necessary laws, introducing a registry for mining enterprises, and creating a system for taxation.
The results are already visible, Putin’s aide is convinced. According to an estimate he quoted, Russia’s foreign trade transactions using cryptocurrencies for settlement have reached 1 trillion rubles (almost $12 billion) in fiat equivalent during the first half of 2025.
Titov went on to suggest that by using its own digital ruble and the global crypto infrastructure, Russia will be able to create an alternative international payment system. He also remarked:
“The combination of private crypto assets and central bank digital currencies is a historic opportunity to build a financial system independent of sanctions pressure.”
Despite Boris Titov’s enthusiasm, Russia has yet to comprehensively regulate cryptocurrencies and operations with them. Mining is still the only one fully recognized as a legal activity.
The Central Bank of Russia maintains strong opposition to allowing crypto payments or other coin transactions inside the country, although it agreed to permit the use of Bitcoin and the like for international settlements.
This is only valid within an “experimental legal regime” that helps Russian companies transact in cryptocurrency with foreign partners, bypassing financial restrictions imposed by the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The same arrangement gives a limited number of “highly qualified” investors access to decentralized digital assets and crypto derivatives. But these remain out of reach for ordinary Russians. The finance ministry recently called for widening investor access to crypto.
Generally, the Russian Treasury has a more liberal view. Speaking during the same crypto event in the Russian capital, its deputy head, Ivan Chebeskov, urged a comprehensive national strategy for digital assets that will allow Russia to use cryptocurrencies to develop its economy.
Domestically, the Russian government has taken steps to curb crypto activities. Using anything else than the Russian ruble, and soon its digital version, as legal tender is prohibited by law. A series of recent legislative amendments, allegedly targeting financial fraud, are actually affecting crypto trading as well.
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