The Russian central bank continues its strict policies regarding the cryptocurrency industry, now officially banning mutual funds from investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). On Dec. 13, the Bank of Russia published an official statement on regulating investment opportunities by mutual investment funds. Despite expanding the number of assets available for investment by mutual funds, the document prohibits fund managers from buying cryptocurrencies as well as “financial instruments whose value depends on prices of digital assets.” The statement emphasizes that mutual funds are not allowed to provide crypto exposure both to either qualified or unqualified investors. The Bank of Russia …

After the Chinese authorities introduced a complete ban on cryptocurrency transactions in September by equating them to illegal financial activity, local cryptocurrency miners either dropped off the radar or moved to other countries in order to continue with their business. The United States subsequently became the leader in terms of Bitcoin (BTC) mining volumes with a share of 35.4%. Modest Kazakhstan is currently in second place (18.1%), and the bronze spot was secured by Russia (11.23%). It’s not surprising because Russia has several advantages, meaning that conducting crypto business in the country is extremely lucrative for almost any miner. There …

Sber, Russia’s largest bank, is apparently struggling to obtain a regulatory approval for its digital asset issuance platform as the company continues delaying registration plans. Sber CEO Herman Gref announced Dec. 7 that the bank now expects to get its digital asset issuance platform registered with the Bank of Russia by the end of 2021, local news agency Prime reported. "We are in constant contact with the central bank, and we are discussing various issues. We really want to believe that the platform will be registered by the end of this year,” Gref said. The new comments come almost a …

On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, voiced his criticism regarding the state of the criticism sector at the "Russian Calling" investment forum in Moscow. According to local news outlet lenta.ru, the president made the following remarks, as translated by Cointelegraph: "It is not backed by anything, [and] the volatility is colossal, so the risks are very high. We also believe that we need to listen to those who talk about those high risks." Putin called for the greater monitoring and regulation of cryptocurrencies and pointed out that certain countries worldwide are seeing significant adoption of digital currencies. …

Almost half of retail investors in Russia believe that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are a hedging asset associated with stable income, according to a new survey. Financial publication Investing.com has polled 1,000 Russian retail investors to find out the most requested types of alternative investments. According to a survey of 1,000 Russian retail investors by Investing.com, as many as 46% of respondents viewed cryptocurrencies as a potential defensive asset allowing them to hedge against financial risks at times of an economic crisis. Russian retail investors favored crypto more than real estate as just 37% of respondents investing in alternative assets …

Russian people are among the world’s most active participants of the cryptocurrency market, according to the country’s central bank. The Bank of Russia published a fresh review on financial stability on Nov. 25, pointing out the country’s growing role in the $2.8 trillion market. Citing estimations reported by major local banks in July 2021, the Bank of Russia suggested that the total annual volumes of crypto transactions of the Russian population amount to 350 billion rubles, or $5 billion USD. It appears to be unclear whether the Bank of Russia has converted these estimations as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) …

The Russian Federal Taxation Service (FNS) is actively monitoring the cryptocurrency market to prevent tax evasion, FNS head Daniil Egorov said. Cryptocurrencies can potentially cause “significant erosion” to Russia’s tax base, Egorov argued in a Monday interview with the local publication RBC. But cryptocurrency transactions are still traceable and should be reported, the official said, adding that FNS is ready to deploy automated tracking systems to process big data volumes. “When you get into the digital space, you still leave a trail somewhere. And it’s a matter of time before this trail is identified,” Egorov declared. The official also noted …

Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) like Russia’s digital ruble do not pose any threat to United States sanctions, according to U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, Adeyemo argued that the U.S. dollar “will remain the dominant currency in the world” despite the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies. Adeyemo pointed out that digital assets provide an “opportunity in lots of ways” for the U.S. economy, but it’s also associated with many challenges like money laundering. However, there are ways to combat this in order to benefit from the growing industry, the official said: “We do think …

The Russian central bank continues disclosing more details about its upcoming digital currency, now reportedly planning to take commissions for the digital ruble transactions. The fees for Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) transactions will be lower than those of wire transfers, Bank of Russia’s director of financial technologies department Kirill Pronin reportedly said. Pronin elaborated that the CBDC transactions’ commissions will not be higher than those implemented within Russia’s Faster Payments System (FPS), a service that lets individuals make instant interbank transfers, the local publication Prime reported Wednesday. The FPS system was launched in 2019, allowing users to transfer …

The Bank of Russia will only fully adopt a central bank digital currency (CBDC) if the digital ruble meets several conditions within pilot tests, governor Elvira Nabiullina said. Nabiullina spoke of the digital ruble before the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets on Monday, disclosing more details about the CBDC rollout, local news agency Interfax reported. The Bank of Russia will only adopt the CBDC after the bank makes sure that rubles can be easily converted from cash into the digital ruble and non-cash, and only at a one-to-one ratio, she said. “It should be a real full-fledged ruble, no …

The Russian State Hermitage Museum continues diving in the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) industry by debuting its first fully-virtual exhibition of digital art. Shortly after raising over $400,000 via its first NFT auction on Binance in September, the Hermitage is now hosting a free exhibition of NFT artworks existing exclusively in the virtual space, the so-called “celestial hermitage,” or the museum’s digital avatar. Launched on Nov. 10, the Hermitage’s exhibition is called the “Invisible Aether” and is based on the concept of metaverse, allowing users to create digital avatars and surf across the virtual site using PCs, smartphones, virtual reality glasses …

The Russian State Duma has created a working group that will tackle the complicated issue of forming regulations for the cryptocurrency mining industry. According to an official announcement on Nov. 11, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin instructed the legislature to create a group that will address regulatory gaps in the industry. The group was formed following a statement by Andrei Lugovoy, the First Deputy of the Representative Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption. Lugovoy — a member of the right-wing Liberal Democratic People's Party — said Thursday that deputies have already written a draft bill which they will introduce in the …