El Salvador has proposed using Bitcoin (BTC) for trade with Russia to navigate financial constraints imposed by sanctions, according to a Russian embassy official.
In an interview with the Russian state-owned newspaper “Izvestia,” Alexander Ilyukhin, the first secretary of the Russian embassy in Nicaragua, highlighted the challenges of conducting trade with El Salvador, which uses the U.S. dollar as its national currency.
El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. Despite this, Ilyukhin noted that embracing crypto for cross-border trade is unlikely since Russia banned crypto as legal tender in early 2021.
The discussion of crypto as a medium for trade comes amid broader efforts to facilitate financial transactions between the two nations. Ilyukhin emphasized the importance of allowing Russian tourists to make payments freely in different countries, suggesting cryptocurrencies as a viable option.
Although Russia has banned cryptocurrency payments, legislative changes are on the horizon that could permit the use of digital assets for international trade with major partners.
