Central Bank: the issue of legalization of cryptocurrency in Russia is still at the discussion stage

Photo: Getty Images / Thomas Trutschel

Today it became known about the opinion of the Central Bank regarding the legalization of cryptocurrency in Russia. In particular, the head of the Bank of Russia Financial Technologies Center, Maxim Grigoriev, stated that it is too early to talk about legalizing the turnover of cryptocurrencies. This issue is under discussion between the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and Rosfinmonitoring, writes TASS.

At the same time, at the beginning of this week, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said that operations with Bitcoins and other types of cryptocurrency can be legalized in the Russian Federation as early as 2018. The official explained that the government could take this step as part of the fight against illegal remittances.

Grigoriev partially confirmed his words, stating that in 2018 the position of the regulator regarding cryptocurrencies will be known: "We are now in touch with the Ministry of Finance, Rosfinmonitoring - as we said, we are going to determine the position by 2018". In other words, the decision is not necessarily positive.
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This issue has been discussed by Russian lawmakers and financiers for several years. So, in the fall of 2015, the Ministry of Finance of Russia proposed to introduce criminal liability for the production and circulation of cryptocurrencies. Then the agency considered that the maximum penalty for these acts should be at least 4 years in prison. Within six months, the Ministry of Finance began talking about 7 years in prison. The Bank of Russia first spoke in support of a ban on the use of digital currencies, considering that they are close to banned money substitutes in the Russian Federation.

Over time, regulators began to change their view of things. The same Ministry of Finance a few months after the threat to do work with bitcoins, a cognizable case stated that the threat level of digital currencies does not correspond to the intended punishment. Moses then stated the following: “The Ministry of Finance decided to wait a bit. See how the situation will evolve internationally. And with that in mind, make a decision. ”

Already in February of this year, the Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, Olga Skorobogatova, made it possible to grant cryptocurrency national status: “When the issue is controlled, when the players understand who is behind it, when the risks are weighed, and when customers and citizens absolutely clearly understand that this is guaranteed by the state.” But the Federal Financial Monitoring Service does not share the enthusiasm of its colleagues. According to this agency, anonymous transactions can cause the growth of the shadow economy.

At the same time, Russian financial institutions are actively studying cryptocurrencies. Banks are interested in new technologies. “We are always open to innovations and are ready to offer customers new financial instruments in strict accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation,” said Sberbank. The head of this organization, German Gref, once said that he himself works with Bitcoins: "This, of course, is a great pleasure and enjoyable as a game, but this will be our whole life soon."

Until the regulators reach a common opinion regarding the status of cryptocurrencies, banks will not be able to begin active work with them. So we will have to wait until 2018 - perhaps by this time the situation will become clearer.