For example in Russia the chinese vendors would sell their stuff for cash rubles, convert them into crypto, send crypto to china, order a container of new stuff

For example in Russia the chinese vendors would sell their stuff for cash rubles, convert them into crypto, send crypto to china, order a container of new stuff, ship it to Russia, repeat. basically they save on taxes, conversion fees, cross border transfer fees, etc. on the cash portion of their revenues. it’s probably harder to do the same with card payments as the tax agencies are in control of electronic payments. in the end there has to be a reason to use crypto in some economic activity. in the example above it’s cost management.