According to a statement by Russian Finance minister, Russia intends to reduce its investments in U.S securities. This comes amid reports that the Ruble has fallen 8% in value. Russia, however, has no plans to close down U.S businesses.
Anton Siluanov, the Russian Finance Minister, stated on August 13 that Russia has lowered investment in dollar to its minimum level and will further down on investments in U.S. economy and financial instruments.
The minister went on to describe the dollar as ‘risky’ saying,
“We have significantly reduced our investment in US assets. In fact, the dollar, which is considered to be the international currency, becomes a risky tool for payments.”
Local Currency Conundrum
There have been recent actions taken by the Kremlin to encourage the use of local currencies. This year, they began backing Erdogan in the trading of local currencies. Per a statement from Reuters:
“The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia favored bilateral trade with all countries in their national currencies, rather than the dollar, but that the idea needed detailed work before being implemented…
Asked about Erdogan’s proposal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had been pushing for such an arrangement with all countries. He said the issue had been raised on more than one occasion during bilateral talks between Turkey and Russia.”
The ruble has been falling steadily against the dollar for some months now and is currently down 8%.
Where do the Cryptos Stand?
Cryptocurrencies have been doing rather well on the Russian market with many being worth more in Rubles than in dollars. Bitcoin, for example, is worth $200 more in rubles and ethereum has similar encouraging numbers.
Embracing Crypto
Russia is one place where cryptocurrencies have been readily accepted, particularly by the government as well as corporate institutions. A trade was facilitated between Turkey and Russia earlier this year and was funded with cryptocurrency and there are plans to have a similar deal with Iran in May.
It was announced earlier that Russia’s SWIFT will also begin to run on blockchain technology. This comes after Iran, which has close ties to Russia, implied that it will begin mining currencies soon.
All these recent developments point towards an aggressive Russian interest in cryptocurrency that shows no signs of slowing down. Considering that Russia has recently been battling to get its growth rate, this could be a welcome change.
