Russia also dives in Crypto: works quietly at its own exhibition

Russia is taking serious steps towards the regulation of cryptocurrencies. In cooperation with the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance prepares the launch of a crypto exchange that is exclusively accessible for so -called “super -qualified investors”.

Crypto from the shade

According to the provisional proposals, this group is formed by individuals with an annual income of at least 50 million rubles (around $ 602,000), or with a capacity of more than 100 million rubles (more than $ 1.2 million). The exact criteria have not yet been definitively established, reports the Russian news site RBC. According to Osman Kabaloev of the Ministry of Finance, it is still possible to work on it.

According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the aim of the project is to remove cryptocurrencies from the shade and to make them accessible to the richest investors in the country under controlled circumstances. Siluanov emphasized that trade will not take place within Russia itself, but within a specially designed experimental legal regime.

The pilot phase will take three years and must make clear whether regulated crypto trade in Russia can be introduced more broadly in the long term.

Laws and experiments

Since January 2021 it has been forbidden in Russia to pay with cryptocurrencies, laid down in the ‘On Digital Financial Assets’ Act. Yet the country is looking for more and more room to use the technology behind Crypto, especially in response to international sanctions.

After freezing wallets of the Russian Exchange Garantex by American authorities, Kabaloev argued for its own Russian Stablecoin on 16 April. Cryptocurrencies are also increasingly being seen as legal property within criminal cases, which implies that seized coins may play a role within public finances.

Crypto as geopolitics instrument

A proposal from Evgeny Masharov of the Russian Civic Chamber even went further: he wants to set up a state fund filled with confiscated cryptocurrencies from criminal cases. According to him, Russia could better respond to international economic pressure.

With this experiment, Russia is focusing on control, not on accessibility. The Crypto Exchange is intended for a select, wealthy group, which seems to fit within a strategy in which cryptocurrencies are used to avoid economic sanctions and develop new trade channels apart from the traditional banking system.