El Salvador has proposed using Bitcoin for trade with Russia to navigate financial constraints posed by sanctions, a Russian embassy official reports.
El Salvador has suggested Bitcoin (BTC) as a means for trade with Russia due to sanctions limiting traditional financial avenues. The proposal aims to solve trading difficulties resulting from these constraints.
In an interview with the Russian state-owned newspaper "Izvestia," Alexander Ilyukhin, the first secretary of the Russian embassy in Nicaragua and head of the office in El Salvador, emphasized the challenges of trading with a nation that primarily uses the U.S. dollar. He noted that El Salvador is suggesting cryptocurrencies as an alternative.
"El Salvador is the first country to officially adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Within the country, any tourist can pay for services using Bitcoin."
Alexander Ilyukhin
El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, an initiative announced by President Nayib Bukele at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. However, Ilyukhin remarked that adopting crypto for cross-border trade is currently unlikely, as Russia banned cryptocurrencies as legal tender early in 2021.
"[…] Bitcoin is not widely used in our country, so we seek other ways to boost trade. The government of El Salvador is ready to continue economic cooperation with Russia."
Alexander Ilyukhin
The move to use crypto for trade is part of broader efforts to facilitate financial transactions between the countries. For tourism development, Ilyukhin stressed the importance of Russians being able to make payments in various countries, implying that cryptocurrencies might be the only practical solution at present.
"A more pragmatic approach for our tourists would be payment using cryptocurrencies."
Alexander Ilyukhin
