Russian Agency Proposes to Create a Major Zone for Crypto Trades With China

Russia is considering creating a financial centre that would allow the promotion

of new forms of international trade with China… and cryptocurrencies are the protagonists. According to information from the local media outlet TASS, The Agency of the Far East for Attracting Investments and Supporting Exports (IPA) shared a proposal to create a “special administrative region” on Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (an island with a territory shared by Russia and China). Since the special zone is located on the border between the two countries, it is possible to foresee an increase in activity between both nations. Leonid Petukhoc, head of the IPA explained that this financial center would seek to promote various types of trading and operations with

financial instruments:

“We want to make a big financial center there. Figuratively speaking, cryptocurrency, crypto-stock exchange, forest trade stock exchange – in a good way, domestic offshore. What they did in Kaliningrad,” 

Russia, China, United States… How Crypto May Change the Political Game

The proposal came after the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum concluded on June 8. In this important event, cryptocurrencies were an important part of the debate, even though the official position is still against its acceptance. Currently there are two administrative districts with similar characteristics to the one proposed by IPA, however, none is focused on the promotion of cryptocurrency trading. In this, the island would be a pioneer in both Russia and China.

So far there is no official position of either country on this proposal however, given the political sanctions and the current trade war promoted by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, it is possible that both nations are considering alternatives to dynamize their economy, and the adoption of cryptocurrencies could be a perfect instrument to achieve this goal.

For Russia, the idea of using crypto is not new. Although the country has had an elusive stance on the matter, on numerous occasions rumors of a possible “Crypto Ruble” have come to light. Also, recently, a Venezuelan diplomat announced that both countries are in talks to replace the use of dollars by rubles and Petros (a Venezuelan cryptocurrency) in their commercial operations. Similarly, after having a strong anti-crypto stance, an important chinese official declared that Bitcoins possession is legal in China, as is p2p otc trading.