Cryptocurrency adoption in Russia has not been moving too fast as an overwhelming majority of Russians have apparently not ever bought crypto, according to a new survey. Switzerland-based cryptocurrency wallet provider Tangem has conducted a poll to learn more about cryptocurrency investors in Russia, local news agency Kommersant reported on Thursday. As many as 72% of the 2,100 respondents in the survey claimed that they have never bought cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), which leaves Russian crypto investors in a significant minority. At the same time, just 9% survey participants indicated that they were negative toward cryptocurrencies while 45% of respondents …

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 …

In a fresh episode of the longstanding battle between the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the country's Ministry of Finance, representatives of the former have criticized the latter’s idea of supporting the stablecoins, which some private investors have sought to launch in the country. According to local media, an unnamed representative of the central bank dismissed talk of Russia-based stablecoins, started last week by the Ministry of Finance’s director of financial policy department Ivan Chebeskov. Back then, Chebeskov voiced his ministry’s support for creating stablecoins tied to assets like “the ruble, gold, oil or grain.” He called it “the …

Russia continues sending mixed messages about the legal status of cryptocurrency, with a parliament official urging the launch of crypto trading on the country’s largest stock exchange. The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is the best match for hosting a regulated crypto exchange in Russia, according to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Russian Banking Association and a financial committee within the State Duma. At a recent press conference, Aksakov stressed the importance of building a crypto exchange under the strict requirements of the Russian central bank, local news agency Prime reported on Thursday. The lawmaker pointed out that MOEX is likely to …

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 …

VTB Factoring, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned bank, reported the first major deal with digital finance assets. As part of the deal, the bank subsidiary acquired a tokenized debt pool of the engineering company Metrowagonmash, issued via the fintech platform Lighthouse. On Wednesday, June 29, VTB reported the deal on its webpage, claiming it to be the first issuance and placement of digital financial assets secured by cash in the Russian Federation. In the announcement, the bank compares it with the issue of short-term commercial bonds. Anton Musatov, CEO at VTB Factoring, emphasized the new technology’s potential regarding the access …

Russia’s central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina is the latest official to confirm that the country is warming to the idea of cryptocurrency payments, but not domestic ones. According to Nabiullina, cryptocurrencies can be used in cross-border or international payments only if they don’t get into Russia’s domestic financial system. The digital currency should not be used as payment on platforms inside Russia, the Bank of Russia governor said in an interview with the local news agency RBC. That is why cryptocurrency prices are too unstable or volatile, thus risky for retail investors, Nabiullina argued, stating: “Cryptocurrencies should not be traded …

Russian banking giant Sber — formerly known as Sberbank — is preparing to complete its first digital currency deal involving the bank’s proprietary digital asset platform soon. The bank will conduct its first transaction involving digital financial assets (DFA) on its digital asset issuance platform by mid-July. Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of Sber’s executive board, disclosed Sber’s plans to complete such a deal in an interview with the state-backed news agency TASS on June 15. Popov claimed that Sber finally received registration from the country's central bank — the Bank of Russia — in spring 2022, following a series of …

First deputy governor of the Russian central bank Ksenia Yudaeva stated Tuesday that the bank is open to using cryptocurrency for international payments, Reuters reported, along with Russian media, which added that the bank was reconsidering its position on crypto mining as well. Yudaeva was quoted as saying: “We have changed our position on mining, and also permit the use of cryptocurrency in foreign trade and outside the country,” The bank official’s statement, sandwiched into announcements about domestic bank regulation, seems to be a concession to the legislators preparing a new version of the law “On Digital Currency.” Business newspaper …

Russia will legalize crypto payments “sooner or later,” according to the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Denis Manturov. The country’s government has been exploring various crypto adoption plays throughout 2022, but is yet to finalize any concrete policy concerning digital asset payments. However, its legalization has been recommended by Russia’s Finance Ministry via its “On Digital Currency” bill from April. According to a translation of a Thursday report from local media outlet TASS, Manturov was questioned at the New Horizon educational forum this week on whether legalized crypto payments were in the works: “I think so. …

The Binance cryptocurrency exchange is adopting more measures to prevent the Russian government from mitigating the impact of sanctions through the use of crypto. Binance has shut down several accounts tied to relatives of senior Kremlin officials over the past two months since Russia began military action in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. According to the report, the affected persons included Elizaveta Peskova, the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and Polina Kovaleva, the stepdaughter of foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. Binance said it had also blocked Kirill Malofeyev, the son of Konstantin Malofeyev, a Russian oligarch who …

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 …