Faced with harsher sanctions from Western countries for its invasion of Ukraine, Russia considers accepting bitcoin as payment for its exports without oil and gas.
At a video conference conference on Thursday, the chairman of Russia’s Duma energy committee said that when it comes to “friendly” countries such as China or Turkey, Russia is determined to be more flexible with payment options.
Chairman Pavel Zavalny said the nation’s consumer fiat currency – as well as bitcoin – was seen as another way to pay for power transfers to Russia.
“We have been proposing in China for a long time to switch to currency exchanges in rubles and yuan,” Zavalny said in a translated comment. “For Turkey, it will be the lira and the rubles.”
He did not give up on traditional money.
“You can also trade bitcoins,” he said.
Bitcoin has risen about 4% in the last 24 hours to about $ 44,000. The price of cryptocurrency rose as Zavalny’s news reports began to skip.
Energy chairman reiterated President Vladimir Putin’s promise on Wednesday to require “unfriendly” countries to pay for gas in Russian rubles. Putin’s announcement has sent European gas prices higher due to concerns that the move could accelerate the already volatile energy market.