Russian Experts: 2024 Will Be a Big Year for Cross-border Crypto, CBDC Payments

Russian industry experts believe that 2024 will be a significant year for cross-border payments using cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) like the digital ruble. Andrey Tugarin, the head of law firm GMT Legal, stated that digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, digital financial assets, and the digital ruble, will be used for cross-border payments. Tugarin also mentioned that several Russian projects have emerged to provide technical solutions for cross-border payments using cryptocurrency. These solutions involve both bank-led initiatives and collaborations between banks and crypto exchanges. However, Tugarin expressed the need for ready-made solutions for using digital financial assets and the digital ruble for such purposes. Maria Telegina, a legal expert from the Moscow Digital School, expects the launch of an experimental platform for international payments using cryptocurrency and digital financial assets in 2024. She believes that these solutions can help mitigate the problems caused by EU and US-led sanctions. Dmitry Kirillov, a Blockchain Law teacher at the Moscow Digital School, hopes for the completion of testing and the formation of a regulatory framework for the digital ruble ahead of schedule. Kirillov expressed optimism about seeing a working payment tool sooner than expected. While the Central Bank rules out a digital ruble rollout before 2025, the finance ministry claims that all citizens will be able to experience making CBDC payments in the next year. Additionally, Kirill Lyakhmanov, Chief Legal Advisor of the Intellectual Property Department at the EBR Law Firm, predicted an increased interest in cryptocurrencies due to the fragmentation of global financial markets. He also mentioned that despite the collapse of the NFT market in 2023, these assets still have a future, especially in the utility tokens field. Overall, industry experts anticipate progress and adoption of cross-border crypto and CBDC payments in Russia in 2024.