According to the Russian legislation, it is not prohibited for individuals or legal entities to buy cryptocurrencies in foreign markets, but it is prohibited to issue them on domestic platforms and use them as means of payment within the Russian Federation.
In an interview on Friday the 17 December 2021, by the local media house finmarket.ru, the Governor of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina enlarged the fear around the future of digital assets regulation in the country.
“You know our attitude towards cryptocurrencies, to put it mildly, skeptical, connected with the fact that these are big risks for retail investors, the volatility of this asset is very large. Cryptocurrencies are often used for illegal operations of a criminal nature, they are not transparent, so we cannot welcome investments in such kind of assets. And we advocate that the Russian financial infrastructure is not used for transactions with cryptocurrency, it is quite possible to implement it”
Central Bank of Russia sees high risks in development of the Cryptocurrency market
The bank of Russia has repeatedly articulated that it is looking at the purchasing of blockchain technology-based assets by individuals with a lot of apprehensions. The fact that Nabiullina’s statement came exactly a day after there were reports about the absolute ban on the exchanges of these virtual assets in Russia increases speculations about the fate of the virtual coin market.
In proportionate views, the most rigorous degrees against digital currency were enforced by China, which in September prohibited foreign exchanges from providing services for buying digital assets in the country and also banned miners from working in the country. At the same time, plenty of European countries and the United States of America are slowly removing constraints on the use of cryptocurrencies as a financial means of payment. In particular, in Sweden, the use of cryptocurrency is allowed by the authorities, while its purchase is considered as a transaction with assets, and anti-money laundering laws are observed.