Russian Senator Proposes Crypto Pilot on Remote Islands
A Russian lawmaker has floated the idea of letting companies registered on two far-flung islands—one near Europe, the other near Asia—experiment with cryptocurrency payments. The suggestion comes as Russia continues wrestling with how to handle digital assets without fully embracing them.
Alexander Shenderyuk-Zhidkov, a senator from the Federation Council’s budget committee, thinks firms in these “special administrative regions” could test crypto transactions without clashing with the central bank’s strict rules. The ruble, after all, remains Russia’s only legal tender.
Testing Grounds: Russky and Oktyabrsky Islands
The two islands in question—Russky, off the Pacific coast, and Oktyabrsky, in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad—already operate under looser financial regulations. Companies registered there aren’t technically considered Russian residents for currency purposes, which might give them just enough wiggle room to try crypto deals.
Right now, Russia bans crypto payments domestically, though it allows limited use in foreign trade under tight controls. The central bank calls it an “experimental legal regime,” but Shenderyuk-Zhidkov isn’t impressed. “I wouldn’t like it if we spent six years getting the law right,” he told *Vedomosti*. “The whole point of an experiment is to *experiment*.”
His argument? Letting these island-based firms play with crypto could lure back some of the businesses—and money—that fled abroad. He mentioned “foreign companies with Russian roots,” though he didn’t name names.
Will the Central Bank Agree?
Experts aren’t dismissing the idea outright. Mikhail Uspensky, a legal advisor to Russia’s lower parliament, called it “fairly realistic” but warned that approvals could drag on. Maria Agranovskaya, a lawyer specializing in finance, agreed—with caveats. “The idea itself is sound,” she said, “but the Bank of Russia’s opinion matters.”
This isn’t the first time someone’s eyed these islands for crypto. Back in 2018, the Finance Ministry suggested allowing Bitcoin trading there. But since then, officials have mostly fallen in line with the central bank’s cautious stance.
For now, nearly 500 companies—including big names like Yandex—are registered in these zones. Whether they’ll get to dabble in crypto anytime soon depends on how much leeway regulators are willing to grant. And in Russia, that’s rarely a quick decision.
