The past couple of months has seen several institutions become more crypto-friendly with Bitcoin becoming the talk of the town. Although the world’s largest cryptocurrency has become a friend to many, some regions such as Russia are still initiating significant pushback.
In a recent Telegram post, Russian State Duma member Fedot Tumusov blasted the Russian Central bank’s double standards in adopting cryptocurrency. His comments came in the wake of Russian institutions still denying cryptocurrency services to customers because no set guideline has been released by the state.
Tumusov serves as a member of the “A Just Russia” party in the Siberian region of Yakutsk. He did not hold back while stating that Russia was making a big mistake by not adopting new technologies while the rest of the world takes necessary steps to move forward with the times. Although Russia had made news a couple of months back after releaseing a cryptocurrency legislation plan, it has seemingly dropped all interest to build on it.
This disassociation by the state has allowed major backs to turn away customers from their doors solely based on the fact that there was no proper cryptocurrency framework available to them. The State Duma member’s Telegram post added:
The law has been passed, but what will the Central Bank do next? It should create convenient opportunities for people to buy cryptocurrency. There is obviously a request for this. But instead of giving people the opportunity to conveniently buy the same bitcoin (even if we pay for this convenience to the bank, and not to a dubious seller who will just disappear), we just turn a blind eye to the situation.
Another issue pointed out by Tumosov was the sheer negligence shown by the central bank after it promised its citizens changes in the country’s financial framework. Some other ministers in the Kremlin roster, however, have another plan with the entire idea of digital asset legalization. Instead of allowing the trade of tradition cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, Kremlin may push for the creation of a digital Ruble.
Industry supporters like Tumosov are in the minority in Russia, with polls still showing a lack of initiative by the Central bank. He further warned the government that if they miss the crypto train now, they will inevitably lose to countries that jumped on board. The Changpeng Zhao-led Binance is one of the few cryptocurrency organizations with a foothold in Russia and that may just be the trigger point the industry needs. Russia is seen as a massively profitable region in terms of overall Bitcoin gains, falling short of only the US, China, Japan, and UK.