Since the western sanctions continue to put pressure on the Russian economy, the country increasingly turns to cryptocurrencies to facilitate oil trade with important partners such as China and India. In order to avoid conventional financial channels, Russia has started, digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) for oil transactionsuse .
Chinese Yuan and Indian rupees are converted into cryptocurrencies, which are then transferred to Russia and exchanged for ruble. This method enables Russian oil exporters to bypass the financial systems controlled by the West and reduce dependence on the US dollar.
Although the use of cryptocurrencies in the oil trade is only a small part of the 192 billion dollar Russian oil industry, it quickly becomes more important as an alternative to traditional payment systems. Russia’s conversion to cryptocurrency transactions takes place at a time when the growth of Indian oil consumption is expected to exceed China by 2025. Forecasts assume that India will make 25 % of the total global oil consumption growth, which makes it an important energy market.
In January 2025, the US Ministry of Finance tightened the pressure on the Russian energy sector by imposing sanctions against two large Russian oil producers and putting 183 ships on the black list, especially oil tankers that transported Russian crude oil. In February, the Indian refineries started to increase their imports from Latin America and Africa because they expected further interruptions in Russian oil deliveries.
In the meantime reacted The state Chinese oil companies careful because they the increasing control of Russian crude oil transactions feared.In March, large Chinese companies such as Sinopec and Zhenhua Oil had their imports of Russian oil drove back and justified this with concerns about compliance with the latest US sanctions.
The development of a BRICS bridge “payment system is currently being discussed within the BRICS countries. This system, in which Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates are involved, aims to create an alternative financial infrastructure that promotes economic cooperation between the member states.
Brazil, which has been the Briks Chairmanship since January 1, will be the host of the annual summit in Rio de Janeiro in July this year. An important point on the agenda will be the discussion about the blockchain-based payment system, which is intended to simplify cross-border transactions.
As part of this change reported CNF, That Russia has introduced a pilot program in which gold -covered digital assets are used for international transactions. These digital tokens that can be purchased with ruble are to be repaid in May 2025.
However, the departure from the US dollar has not been unnoticed. US President Donald Trump has directed and threatened a significant warning to the BRICS group, 100% tariffs On goods of the Member of the member introduce, If they give up the dollar in favor of alternative payment systems.
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