Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday that Russian businesses have started using bitcoin and other digital currencies for international payments. This use was authorized by legislative exchanges in order to counter Western sanctions.

Sanctions have complicated Russia's trade with its main partners, such as China or Turkey. Local banks are extremely careful when it comes to Russia-related transactions, in order to avoid scrutiny from Western regulators. Russia is one of the world leaders in bitcoin mining; the country this year authorized the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and has taken steps to make the mining of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, legal. President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that the current US administration was compromising the role of the US dollar as a reserve currency by using it for political purposes, forcing many countries to turn to other assets