The Russian Agricultural Bank is considering crypto-based tools as an alternative to traditional settlement methods for exporting more than 49.5 million tonnes of grain. This measure could open the agricultural commodity market to digital assets and pioneer this use case.
Russia contemplates crypto settlements for grain exports
Russia is increasingly open to the adoption of cryptography. The Russian Agricultural Bank, a state-owned agency that provides credit to agricultural companies, has shown the potential use of codes in grain settlements.
The possibility was mentioned at the Russian Grain Forum, which attracted 1,000 participants in Sochi, the bank’s first associate CEO Irina Chakkina.
She said:
Cryptocurrency could be a convenient alternative and at this time we believe that together with the Bank of Russia and all stakeholders are considering the opportunity to use cryptocurrency tools to pay for grain transactions.
The Russian Agricultural Bank has been subject to European Union (EU) and US sanctions since 2022. These included exclusion of banks from the Swift International Payment Network, freezing all EU assets and banning the acquisition of financial services from European institutions. Eliminating all these sanctions is one of the requirements of the Russian government to finalize the proposed Black Sea contract, which will allow Ukrainian grain to pass safely through joint territory.
Sanctions have banned more than 79 ships that are prohibited from entering European ports and receiving services, in accordance with the central bank’s statement, reaching ships carrying Russian grain to other markets.
Agricultural banks may be preparing to strengthen these measures, placing codes as a reliable source of liquidity for grain purchases.
The move will potentially launch the crypto agricultural commodity market and establish Russia as the counterparty for digital asset settlements for the next harvest. Russia is the number one producer of this grain, so this forecast also includes 42 million tonnes of wheat.
Read more: EU spokesman: Russian banks won’t reconnect quickly
