Some businesses have begun using crypto, including bitcoin, to make international payments, Russia's finance minister said.

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments following legislative changes that allowed such use in order to counter Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

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. Why it matters: Russia's economy has been hampered by difficulties in making and receiving international payments,