Russia’s Top Officials Failed to Reach an Agreement on How to Regulate Crypto (Report)

Despite Vladimir Putin’s request, the Bank of Russia and the Finance Ministry did not shake hands on a single solution regarding cryptocurrency regulations. While some reports indicated that the largest country by landmass will not ban digital assets, it is still uncertain what legislation it will impose.

No Resolution After the Meeting

The central bank of Russia and the Finance Ministry share quite different viewpoints on the digital asset space. Last month, the former proposed a complete ban on all cryptocurrency endeavors claiming that such assets remind of a pyramid scheme and threaten the local monetary system.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Finance suggested that imposing a regulatory framework could be more beneficial. Ivan Chebeskov – Director of the Department of Financial Policy – further noted that the world has become “virtualized,” meaning Russia should embrace cryptocurrencies and not fall behind.

The nation’s President – Vladimir Putin – stood between the two institutions and urged them to “come to some kind of unanimous opinion” on the matter. In any case, he did not favor the central bank’s proposal, opining that cryptocurrency mining could be beneficial to Russia.

According to Bloomberg, Elvira Nabiullina (the Chief of the Bank of Russia), Anton Siluanov (Finance Minister of the country), and Dmitry Grigorenko (Deputy Prime Minister) discussed the situation at a joint meeting. However, they did not decide what legislation to apply.

A spokesman for the Finance Ministry and the central bank’s press service declined to give more details on the discussions.

Despite granting them legal status, the Russian government does not allow payments with cryptocurrencies.

Russia Might Focus on CBDC

Similar to the Chinese central bank, the Bank of Russia has displayed intentions to roll out a central bank digital currency. Not long ago, it stated that such a monetary product could benefit the state’s financial network. Additionally, it might be a safer alternative to private cryptocurrencies since it will be totally supervised.

Earlier this month, billionaire Vladimir Potanin (known as Russia’s second-richest man) supported that idea. He claimed that a digital ruble could promote technologies, while bitcoin and the altcoins are “unreliable products” that pose risks to investors.