Putin's aide calls for inclusion of cryptocurrencies in Russia's balance of payments accounting

According to TechFlow, on December 4, DL News reported that Maxim Oreshkin, a senior aide to Russian President Putin, stated that cryptocurrencies should be included in Russia’s balance of payments accounting and referred to crypto mining as an “undervalued export industry.” Oreshkin pointed out, “Cryptocurrency is a form of money supply, and Russian companies can and indeed do use cryptocurrency to pay for imports, which also affects the fiat currency market.” Data shows that Russia accounts for nearly 16% of global Bitcoin hashrate, second only to the United States. Oleg Ogiyenko, CEO of Moscow blockchain consulting firm Via Numeri, stated that cryptocurrency mining “has already played an important role in the Russian economy,” and that Russian companies have invested more than $1.3 billion in data centers, grid connections, power generation, and mining hardware. The Central Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance have agreed to legalize cryptocurrency payments as a form of “foreign economic activity” to counter Western sanctions.