Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said bitcoin is a compelling alternative asset for his sanctions-hit country.AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, PoolRussian firms are using crypto for international payments amid sanctions, said the country's finance minister.Recent legislative changes have reversed Russia's previous resistance to crypto.Global banks have reduced transactions with Russia, prompting a shift to alternative payment systems.Russian companies have found another way to skirt Western sanctions against trade payments: cryptocurrency.Some businesses have begun using crypto, including bitcoin, to make international payments, Anton Siluanov, Russia's finance minister, told Russia 24 TV channel on Wednesday."As part of the experimental regime, it is possible to use bitcoins, which we had mined here in Russia," Siluanov said, according to a Reuters translation."Such transactions are already occurring.