Bank of Russia and the Future of Crypto Industry

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others are famous around the world. Nevertheless, the situation regarding the crypto regulations is very complicated due to various factors. Case of Russian Federation is not an exception.

However, as can be seen from this example, authorities are confused when it comes to regulations. Recently, a high-ranking employee of Russia’s central bank made a comment regarding this issue. According to the head of the legal department of the Bank of Russia, the new law will ban the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies. 

Alexey Guznov made this comment on March 16. He said a bill “On Digital Financial Assets” will address the topics mentioned above and he explained his position. 

As a reminder, the original bill “On Digital Financial Assets” stipulated that cryptocurrency trading would be allowed in Russia. However, this is not going to happen, as the amended document will ban nearly everything connected with crypto except holding.

Russian legislation and crypto

Moreover, according to Guznov the upcoming law would introduce penalties for violating this law. However, he provided little clarity regarding this bill. 

The head of the legal department reiterated his position that the central bank opposes institutions issuing cryptocurrencies. 

He also touched one very interesting topic. Guznov said that the bank would be unable to impose certain limits on transactions in Bitcoin. 

Unfortunately, crypto climate in Russian Federation is far from being ideal. President Vladimir Putin ordered the adoption of the bill “On Digital Financial Assets”. However, the legislation remains unfinalized to this day. 

In February 2020, the country’s central bank issued a set of rules for suspicious transactions. Based on those rules, crypto-related transactions represent a potential money laundering risk. 

The years of uncertainty created additional problems for the crypto industry. Latest remarks complicated the situation. Moreover, if Russian lawmakers would approve this version of the law, many crypto-related companies will think twice before entering the local market