Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are getting increasingly popular with Russian investors, apparently displacing traditional investment products, according to a new survey. Russia’s Association of Forex Dealers (AFD), a local self-regulatory organization focused on the foreign exchange market, polled 502 Russian investors to find out the local investor sentiment regarding cryptocurrencies. Released on Tuesday, the survey was conducted from Aug. 4 to Aug. 24, 2021. In the survey, nearly 77% of respondents said that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) are the “most forward-looking” investment. Only 8.8% of respondents indicated that they view gold as the best investment, …

The Russian central bank has once again reiterated its negative stance on Bitcoin (BTC), with one of the bank’s top executives comparing the cryptocurrency with a pyramid scheme. Sergey Shvetsov, the first deputy governor at the Bank of Russia, expressed the authority’s concerns over cryptocurrency investment in a Wednesday interview, warning about the perceived risk of losses by investors. Shvetsov said that local investors have been increasingly pouring their money into alternative financial instruments that he referred to as “technological financial pyramids,” stating that Bitcoin is just one of such pyramid schemes. He said that many retail investors expect huge …

Federal authorities in Russia are moving forward with a plan to closely monitor cryptocurrency activity for illicit transactions and deanonymize crypto users’ identities. The Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service, also known as Rosfinmonitoring, has selected a contractor for developing a platform for tracking cryptocurrency activity. According to data from Russia’s state procurement website, the country will allocate 14.7 million rubles ($200,000 USD) from its budget to create a “module for monitoring and analyzing cryptocurrency transactions” using Bitcoin (BTC). According to the official data, the procurement contract was granted to a company referred to as RCO, which is reportedly indirectly backed …

The state of cryptocurrency regulation in Russia has taken another twist as a local court has ordered the country’s largest bank to resume account support for a Bitcoin (BTC) trader. Sverdlovsk regional court, a court in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg, has ordered Sber, formerly known as Sberbank, to unblock account services to a client involved in Bitcoin trading, according to an official announcement on Monday. The client’s bank accounts processed multiple transactions associated with trades on cryptocurrency exchanges from May to August 2020. Sber blocked the individual from access to their bank accounts, citing suspicious transaction activity and Anti-Money …

Amid the Bank of Russia continuing progressing with its central bank digital currency (CBDC) development, one survey suggested that few Russians are ready to accept salary payments in the digital ruble. Almost half of the Russian respondents strongly objected to receiving salaries in the digital ruble in a new survey by local recruitment site HeadHunter. Only 11% of respondents said that they were ready to get salaried in the digital ruble, while 41% indicated that they were “categorically opposed” to being paid in the CBDC, local news agency Izvestia reported on Wednesday. As Russia is preparing to roll out digital …

As global cryptocurrency companies increasingly consider going public, the Russian central bank has officially recommended local exchanges to avoid crypto-related listings. The Bank of Russia issued an information letter on Monday, asking Russian stock exchanges to stay away from listings of foreign and local companies involved in a broad range of crypto services. The central bank elaborated that local exchanges should not list stocks issued by companies whose business relies on crypto market prices, including digital financial assets issued outside Russia, crypto-tracking indexes, as well as crypto derivatives and crypto funds. The Bank of Russia also recommended asset managers to …

Russia’s central bank has scheduled a risk assessment for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), according to the Bank of Russia’s screening program for the second half of 2021. The examination of the potential risks of cryptocurrency investing will consider “systemic risks linked to cryptocurrency investment by Russian individuals and entities.” As part of the investigation, the Bank of Russia will collect data from 15 credit organizations including major banks like Sberbank, VTB and Tinkoff Bank, payment systems like Visa and Mastercard, and electronic payment providers like Western Union, Qiwi and WebMoney. The Bank of Russia is also looking to release a …

The central bank of Russia is setting up a group of banking institutions to test its central bank digital currency (CBDC) next year. On Tuesday, the Bank of Russia officially announced the establishment of the first pilot group for testing the digital ruble, bringing together 12 Russian banks. The pilot members include Russia’s largest banks like state-backed Sberbank and VTB, as well as major private banks like Tinkoff Bank. Other participants include commercial bank Alfa Bank, Gazprombank, Promsvyazbank, Rosbank, Ak Bars Bank, Dom.RF, SKB-Bank, TKB and Soyuz bank. The bank reaffirmed Russia’s plans to complete a prototype digital ruble platform …

The Bank of Russia continues its tough stance on cryptocurrency trading despite growing concerns over the country missing out on the digital asset industry. The governor of Russia’s central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, reiterated the bank’s negative stance on crypto in a Monday interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, arguing that crypto is one of the most dangerous investments that currently exist. Nabiullina mentioned crypto within the context of other high-risk investment spaces like foreign exchange markets. “It’s far easier to lose on the foreign exchange market than to win,” she said, stating that “speculative crypto assets” are even riskier. The bank governor …

Russian industrial tycoon Oleg Deripaska is the latest figure to criticize the Bank of Russia’s stance on cryptocurrency regulation in the country. Deripaska took to his official Telegram channel on Thursday to blast the Russian central bank for pressuring local industry to avoid getting involved into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The Russian oligarch pointed out that even small countries like El Salvador have moved into Bitcoin by recognizing it as legal tender: “Even poor El Salvador, known for being close to oft-mentioned Honduras, has realized the need for digital currencies and taken a simple path, recognizing Bitcoin as a means …

A Russian State Duma member has blasted the central bank’s tough stance on the cryptocurrency industry for ignoring the growing demand for crypto in the country. Fedot Tumusov, a member of the “A Just Russia” party representing the Siberian region of Yakutsk, has criticized the Bank of Russia’s approach to regulating the crypto industry following a Tuesday plenary meeting of the State Duma. In a Tuesday Telegram post, Tumusov outlined the growing need to create an ecosystem that allows Russian residents to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) amid increasing demand. The official argued that despite Russia enforcing crypto legislation earlier …

Sberbank and VTB, the two biggest banks in Russia, are not willing to move into the cryptocurrency market in the near future as their CEOs believe that crypto is either too risky or fake money. Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are probably the riskiest type of investment alongside the equity market. In a Thursday interview with local TV channel NTV, Gref claimed that a banking deposit is the best investment option as it is associated with the least amount of risk despite low returns: “A banking deposit is certainly the most reliable investment instrument. 100% …