Russia could accept bitcoin for its oil and gas transactions

Faced with tight sanctions from Western countries over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia is considering accepting bitcoin as payment for its gas and oil export transactions.

In a videotaped news conference, the chairperson of Russia’s Durma committee on energy, Pavel Zavalny, floated the idea of accepting payment for its oil and gas from “friendly countries” such as China and Turkey in Russian rubles, Chinese yuan, Turkish lira—or even bitcoin (BTC)—rather than the international standard, United States dollar.

Zavalny, in translated comments, said that they had been proposing to China for a long time to shift to payments in national currencies for rubles and yuans and the lira with Turkey. He also added that trade could be facilitated through bitcoin.

Bitcoin is up close to 4% during the last 24 hours to about $44,000. The cryptocurrency price shot up around the time the news reports of Zavalny’s statements first crossed.

Russia’s energy chief also reiterated President Putin’s promise to require “unfriendly” nations to pay for oil and gas in Russian rubles. Putin’s announcement sent European gas prices soaring over worries the move might aggravate a pressurized energy market.