Russia’s government to prepare scenario on cryptocurrencies development

The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance agreed that a private cryptocurrency will not be able to become a legal means of payment

03.02.2022 - 11:10

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What’s new? On January 28, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko held a meeting to discuss options for the development of cryptocurrencies in Russia. By February 11, the departments will prepare several scenarios for the regulation of digital assets. The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance agreed that a private currency will not be able to become a legal means of payment in the Russian Federation, the Kommersant newspaper reports, citing its own sources.

Kommersant’s material

What development scenarios do the departments propose? The Ministry of Finance variant is to divide the market into a “white” regulated part and a criminalized “black” one, while the Central Bank variant is that all cryptocurrency transactions should be out of the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. Recall that Russia has already approved a roadmap for cryptocurrency development, with the Central Bank being the only agency that did not support the initiative.

What are the prospects for cryptocurrencies in Russia? The government estimates that the volume of cryptocurrency transactions in the country is valued at 2 trillion Russian rubles (RUB), but Bloomberg recently reported 16,5 trillion. According to other calculations, the legalization of foreign crypto exchanges in Russia may bring about 180 million RUB in tax revenue. Another important goal of the government will be to protect Russians’ digital assets bought abroad.

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