Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister took a moment to highlight how digital currencies could have become a crucial part of cross-border settlements in future – though not specifically mentioning Bitcoin or any other decentralised digital currency being used in this regard.
At the Primakov Readings – an international gathering of experts in world economics and international relations held every year – Lavrov noted how digitisation of finance was unavoidable and that the use of cryptocurrencies may be effective in some cases.
“I think the time will inevitably come when cryptocurrencies will play a very significant role in trade and finance and occupy a very significant segment of the international settlements sector, ” said Lavrov.
However, the minister made a point of stating that Russia has no plans to wholly discontinue the use of US dollars. Instead, the minister pointed to China’s development of the digital Yuan and how the Kremlin has comparable objectives in mind.
The Russian government has already begun the de-dollarisation of some parts of the country’s economy, with their gold reserves among the first to go through this transition away from the greenback.
“We really want to engage in the de-dollarization of the Russian economy and financial system. The other day, we decided that our gold and foreign exchange reserves will no longer be stored in dollars. The corresponding actions have already been taken. But I would like to stress, once again, that this does not mean that we are ruling out the use of the dollar in general, ” the minister added.
