“Russian companies are using bitcoin to evade Western sanctions, thanks to a new law, the country’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed in a television interview,” Axios reports. “Russia’s economy has been hampered by difficulties in making and receiving international payments, even with countries like China that don’t use the U.S. dollar as their reserve currencies.” “The Kremlin last month created an experimental legal framework for cryptocurrency miners, which includes a provision whereby approved entities can use crypto for international trade.” “It also could be a boon for Russian energy companies, which now can sell to a power-hungry group of domestic bitcoin miners.”