Russia Looks to Swap its US Dollar Reserves With Digital Assets in the Future

Russia has notably been working on plans to de-dollarize its economy in a bid to reduce economic sanctions and threats the US Dollar poses to its businesses. Speaking in an interview with local media platform, Interfax, Aleksandr Pankin, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, said the broader plan in reducing the potency of the dollar may involve substituting the American fiat currency with digital assets in the long term.

“There is no doubt about the expediency of continuing to work on further reducing the share of the dollar in national international reserves, as well as its use in settlements with foreign partners. At the same time, it is possible to replace the American dollar with other currencies, both national and regional, and in the future, probably, with some kind of digital assets,” Minister Pankin said.

This move will not come easy as the minister acknowledged that to achieve this massive overhaul, its existing relationships with other nations may have to be revised.

“Such work requires the application of significant efforts in both bilateral, regional, and multilateral formats, including the need to reformat the established models of cooperation between states and commercial structures and create appropriate mechanisms to support the functioning of new settlement systems,” he added.

The minister noted that the proposed measures to de-dollarize its economy does not apply to the Euro as the country has no trade challenges with the region.

Russia and Anti-Dollar Push: Bitcoin to the Rescue?

Russia is a country that is known as anti-Bitcoin and crypto as the major financial watchdogs like other nations warns against investment in these volatile asset classes. The skepticism toward digital currencies by the country’s top executives has notably pushed for the banning of 17 cryptocurrency exchanges per an earlier report by TheCoinRise.

While Minister Pankin may trust in the capabilities of a government-backed digital currency such as the country’s proposed stablecoin that is already undergoing tests in a regulatory sandbox, his plans are ultimately far from integrating Bitcoin.

A number of countries around the world are already incorporating or in the process of making Bitcoin legal for transactions within their shores. While El Salvador leads the pack in this regard, other nations including Paraguay and Ukraine are also reportedly exploring avenues to make the premier digital currency legal.