A top Russian government official has just announced that Russia is to begin accepting payments in Bitcoin for its oil and gas exports.
Pavel Zavalny, Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation on Energy, said that Russia will take Bitcoin while discussing how Russia might accept payment for oil and other resources.
Russia was recently blocked from using the Swift payment system over its invasion of Ukraine.
Being locked out of Swift makes it impossible for other nations to pay Russia in US dollars to import energy and other goods or services.
Speaking at a press conference, Zavalny said countries can pay Russia in Bitcoin to buy gas and oil from them.
“If they want to buy, let them pay either in hard currency, and this is gold for us, or pay as it is convenient for us,” Zavalny said, according to a translation of his comments.
“The set of currencies can be different and this is normal practice, you can also trade bitcoins,” he continued.
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Zavalny’s remarks may, or may not be behind a sizable rise in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) over the past 90 minutes, now up about 3% on the day, and at the $44,000 level for the first time since a brief price spike in early March.
