Russia has long been all over the place on cryptocurrency regulations, at times looking to ban them, then seemingly looking to legalize them. Now, the country has both embraced and seemingly spoken out against cryptocurrencies all in the same week.

Likely driven by reports that the country was planning to regulate cryptocurrencies last month, Russia’s third-largest bank, Gazprombank, is reported to be planning a cryptocurrency pilot in Switzerland. Gazprombank Deputy Chairman Alexander Sobo ws quoted in local press last week as saying that the cryptocurrency trial “will not be on a grandiose scale, but for individuals. There is a demand from large private clients for such services. Therefore, we are now looking at how we can organize this service for them.”

The actions of one privately owned bank does not a shift in government policy make, but Sputnik reported that the Russian government is backing Venezuela’s “Petro” cryptocurrency and that it would initially accept payments in the cryptocurrency for automotive parts and components. Another report claimed that Russia has said that in the not-too-distant future, it may be using the coin for other unspecified “international transactions.”

The Petro cryptocurrency, launched by the failing socialist state via a presale in February, is allegedly backed by Venezuela’s oil reserves and is squarely aimed at bypassing U.S. trade sanctions. Those trade sanctions extended to the Petro specifically in March when President Trump signed an executive order applying a ban on all U.S. citizens undertaking any transactions, financing or other dealings in any digital currency, digital coin or digital token issued by or on behalf of the government of Venezuela.

While Russia was seemingly once again embracing cryptocurrencies, not everyone within the country is on the same page. TNW reported that the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring) has come out against the free exchange of cryptocurrencies on Russian soil. Rosfinmonitoring deputy head Pavel Livandy is quoted as saying that cryptocurrencies are high-risk, speculative assets that do not have real value and that their free exchange should not be allowed within Russia.

Livandy’s statement did not specifically rule out heavily regulated trading of cryptocurrencies in the future, which is fortunate, given a report in January that claimed Russia was exploring ways to create a “Cryptoruble” that could help it circumvent western sanctions.

The first reports that the Russian cryptocurrency could be forthcoming came in November, when it was reported that the Russian Communication Ministry had submitted a document to the government detailing how the country may adopt cryptocurrencies. That same report also quoted Nikolai Nikiforov, minister of communications and mass media, as saying that Russian law will never consider bitcoin as a legal entity in the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.

In related news, CCN reported Monday that Russian hotels were accepting bitcoin payments for bookings for the forthcoming Soccer World Cup, meaning that either they’re doing so illegally or they’re simply being ignored by the central government.

Photo: Kremlin