Russia houses $200B worth of crypto, Kremlin estimates

Published at: Feb. 1, 2022

Russian citizens reportedly own 16.5 trillion rubles ($214 billion) worth of cryptocurrencies, according to government estimates.

A Bloomberg report noted that Russians own about 12% of the total global crypto holdings. The crypto holdings estimates were calculated by analyzing IP addresses of some of the most significant crypto exchange users in the country along with a few other data points, said two people working with Kremlin. The crypto holdings analysis of Russian citizens is being carried out to get an overview of the crypto market and formulate new regulations. The proposals are yet to be finalized.

The estimates are believed to be on the lower side, given crypto regulations are not yet clear in the country and many users prefer to use anonymous tools to carry out their transactions.

The recent crypto holdings estimate is a big jump from the data shared by Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the lower house of parliament’s financial markets committee in December. According to the Tass news service report in December 2021, Russians owned 5 trillion rubles worth of crypto.

Related: Central bank overkill: Russia’s proposed crypto ban and why everyone’s against it

Russia witnessed a back and forth between the central bank and finance ministry over the past month. First, the central bank proposed a blanket ban on crypto mining and trading, however, the finance ministry countered the blanket ban proposal with a crypto regulatory framework. The finance ministry found support in President Putin himself who advocated for regulating the market.

Russia is currently third in terms of Bitcoin network mining input and Putin acknowledged the same, calling for use of surplus energy for crypto mining. With the finance ministry and President onboard, Russia could soon regulate crypto trading and mining.

Tags
Regulation
Bitcoin Regulation
Russia
Bitcoin Mining
Bank Of Russia
Vladimir Putin
Related Posts
Russian Duma wants to regulate crypto mining as business
As Russian cryptocurrency advocates are working to attract global crypto mining operators, local lawmakers have gotten more serious about regulating the industry. Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, claimed that Russian lawmakers are now considering recognizing the crypto mining industry as a form of entrepreneurship under local business laws, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday. “As this [crypto mining] is a type of entrepreneurial activity, it is obviously necessary to include it into the state register, to regulate it as a type of entrepreneurship under an appropriate code, and impose relevant taxation,” Aksakov said. …
Bitcoin / Sept. 9, 2021
Russian Parliament working group: There should be 'mechanisms to control crypto transactions'
Amid the ongoing discussion between the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the nation’s Finance Ministry on the future of crypto, a State Duma (the lower chamber of Parliament) working group has voiced their support for regulating rather than banning digital assets. The working group called for the “clear regulation of the digital assets industry” as the most effective approach to lower the risks associated with crypto’s adoption in the country. As reported by local media, some 50 experts took part in the panel session called by the Duma’s working group “On the questions of the regulation of cryptocurrency”. The …
Regulation / March 10, 2022
Law Decoded: Competing narratives around crypto clash on the Earth Day, April 19-26
Regulation by enforcement, a fast and economical substitute for thorough rulemaking, is widely regarded as some of the U.S. executive agencies’ preeminent approach to crypto regulation. It could be summed up as letting crypto firms explore the boundaries of what is permissible by themselves and then punishing industry participants in case their exploratory actions come to look like a transgression. Others will take heed and learn from the explorer’s negative experience. While it is the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that gets accused of over-reliance on regulation by enforcement most frequently, other federal agencies do that as well. Last …
Regulation / April 25, 2022
Russian central bank exec is OK with crypto mining under one condition
Kirill Pronin, head of the Russian Central Bank (CBR)’s department of financial technologies, acknowledged the possibility of crypto mining legalization under certain conditions. A public acknowledgment like this makes a rare case, as the CBR continues to lead the battle against the efforts to legalize crypto in the country. The executive expressed his views on mining at the Saint-Petersburg International Legal Forum on Wednesday, June 29. During the session, dedicated to cryptocurrencies, Pronin revealed that CBR doesn’t take the same kind of hardline position on mining as it does in the case of general crypto legalization: "Despite the fact that …
Regulation / June 30, 2022
Russia plans to roll out digital ruble across all banks in 2024
The Bank of Russia continues working towards the upcoming adoption of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), planning an official digital ruble rollout in a few years. According to the Bank of Russia’s latest monetary policy update, the authority will begin to connect all banks and credit institutions to the digital ruble platform in 2024. That would be an important year for Russia as the country is expected to hold presidential elections in March 2024 and incumbent President Vladimir Putin has the constitutional right to get re-elected. By that time, the central bank expects to complete “real money” customer-to-customer transaction …
Blockchain / Aug. 12, 2022