Russian Crypto Users At Risk If Financial Regulators Get Their Way

News came out last month that cryptocurrency users in Russia, who have been doing their crypto business in a regulatory ‘gray zone’, have the potential to be at risk in the near future. This comes as the country’s financial regulators are allegedly preparing to team up to make the use of digital assets as a payment solution illegal in the nation. 

Framework

Not long after this, rumours were confirmed by Russia’s interior ministry saying that it was on the right road to developing a legal framework in order to apprehend digital assets (so to speak). This could come into law as soon as 2021. The head of Russia’s main financial intelligence agency went before parliament to speak about the prospects of the legal aspect of crypto use, but not in a good way.

As per CT, reports came out recently citing “the Central Bank of Russia and the Federal Financial Monitoring Service were drafting legislation to ban the use of crypto assets for the purchase of goods and services. No details were disclosed with regard to potential enforcement mechanisms or punishment for violators.”

Following an inquiry, the central bank responded with a sentiment which primarily shadowed the sentiments of the above reports.

“The ruble is the only legal tender in Russia. We remain convinced that cryptocurrencies pose significant risks, including laundering of illegally gained funds, financing of terrorism, and extreme volatility of exchange rates. We believe that private cryptocurrencies cannot be equated to fiat money nor considered legal tender. Should there emerge a legislative initiative to ban cryptocurrencies as means of payment, we deem it appropriate to support it.”

It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out in Russia. For more news on this and other crypto updates, keep it with CryptoDaily!