Russia’s sanctioned business union mulls establishing national Bitcoin fund

Russia’s sanctioned business association considers a national Bitcoin fund to enhance the use of digital financial assets in foreign trade.

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), a sanctioned Russian union representing the country’s wealthiest business figures, is considering launching a national crypto fund to use crypto in foreign trades as Russian business explores options to circumvent Western sanctions.

In an interview with Russia’s newspaper Vedomosti, managing director of financial policy and financial markets at RSPP Andrey Lisitsyn said the fund would be based on Bitcoins (BTC) produced by local miners. Russia would then issue digital financial assets (DFAs) — basically centralized digital tokens — backed by this fund, enabling the legal use of cryptocurrency in cross-border transactions through IOUs rather than direct trades with the crypto itself.

So far, DFAs have failed to gain any significant traction in Russia despite efforts by multiple banks to woo retail investors. Although Bank of Russia Chair Elvira Nabiullina appears to be betting big on DFAs, she admitted in an early June press conference that the market suffers from a lack of liquidity, noting that it’s “too much fragmented.” As of June, the total market volume of DFAs surpassed 96 billion rubles (approximately $1.1 billion), a milestone that took the country two years to reach.