Ananya Dutta
A meeting on Tuesday between Putin and Siluanov, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Central Bank Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova, Presidential Aide Andrei Belousov, and Qiwi CEO Sergei Solonin – top regulators in the country has concluded with the decision to regulate cryptocurrencies in Russia. The Russian government will officially make plans to regulate the mining and circulation of digital currencies including Bitcoin, with a basic framework expected by the year’s end.
Acknowledging the risks of crytocurrencies, Putin however stressed that “it is important not to create unnecessary barriers, of course, but rather to provide essential conditions for advancing and upgrading the national financial system.”
The Finance Ministry will hold alongside the Central Bank in an unprecedented move to prepare one basic draft law to regulate digital currencies, having previously worked separately and failing to get each other’s support in their proposed solutions and recommendations.
Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev warned of possible additional restrictions, saying that the Russian Finance Ministry supports the idea to limit the amounts of cryptocurrencies able to be purchased by individuals. Not his first time saying this, Moiseev previously proposed listing digital currencies on regulated exchanges but barring non-qualified investors from exchanging on them – a move that did not see a lot of support from other regulators and was quickly debunked by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov denying plans have been drawn up and Finance Minister following after saying that cryptocurrencies would be made available the same way federal loan bonds (OFZ) currently are.
Damodar Kalyan
Mohith Agadi
