Russia is using cryptocurrencies to bypass sanctions from the Ukraine war.
Russia is using cryptocurrencies to swerve financial sanctions
Britain, the EU and the US have all imposed economic sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine last year but Moscow is employing a number of tricks to evade the restrictions.
Russia has been trading in rubles rather than dollars and has now started employing cryptocurrencies to minimise the impact of the sanctions.
Some forms of cryptocurrencies are difficult to trace and regulate, making them a useful tool in laundering money from criminal activity or to pay for illegal or restricted goods.
Crypto is currently illegal in Russia but special measures are being introduced that would create state-sponsored crypto mines.
The mines would be huge computer servers that would monitor and legitimise Bitcoin transactions and rewarded with the currency as a result.
Russia will allow the use of cryptocurrency during certain transactions and all of this will be heavily monitored.
Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, said: "Adhering to the policy that cryptocurrency should not be used within the country, we propose to allow it as an experimental measure.
"The relevant bill is also being prepared to introduce an experimental legal regime."
Moscow will establish bodies that are dedicated to supervising crypto mining, as well as monitoring crypto transactions outside of Russia.